The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

, the biennial

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tournament for nations affiliated to the

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...

(CAF). The tournament was staged at four venues around Ghana between 20 January and 10 February 2008. This was the last Africa Cup of Nations to use the old CAF logo.

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

won the tournament, beating

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

1–0 in the final. As winners, they qualified for the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Joh ...

as the CAF representatives.

Host selection

Bids: * Ghana * Libya * South Africa The organization of the 2008

was awarded to Ghana on 8 July 2004 by the CAF Executive Committee members which are 12 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, Egypt. Voters had a choice between Ghana and Libya which was disadvantaged by the fact that two countries in the North Africa region had already hosted the last two editions (Tunisia in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, and Egypt in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

). South Africa, also was a candidate at the start, eventually withdrew in May 2004 after being nominated for the organization of the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. This is the fourth time that Ghana has hosted the African Cup after

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

(jointly with Nigeria).

Venues

Squads

Qualification

The entrants were divided into 12 groups. All group winners and the best three runners-up from groups with four teams (groups 2-11) qualified for the finals. Host Ghana qualified automatically. Qualifying took place between 2 September 2006 and 13 October 2007.

Teams

* – Host, 16th appearance (4 titles) * – Group 1 winner, 17th appearance (1 title) * – Group 2 winner, 21st appearance (5 titles) * – Group 3 winner, 15th appearance (2 titles) * – Group 4 winner, 7th appearance (1 title) * – Group 5 winner, 15th appearance (4 titles) * – Group 6 winner, 4th appearance * – Group 7 winner, 11th appearance * – Group 8 winner, 9th appearance * – Group 9 winner, 5th appearance * – Group 10 winner, 2nd appearance * – Group 11 winner, 13th appearance * – Group 12 winner, 13th appearance (1 title) * – Group 4 runner-up, 13th appearance (1 title) * – Group 9 runner-up, 2nd appearance * – Group 11 runner-up, 7th appearance (1 title)

Match officials

16 referees and 16 assistant referees were selected for the tournament, including two from Japan and one from South Korea.

Seeding and grouping procedure

The draw for the tournament took place on 19 October 2007. The sixteen teams were divided into four pots according to their performances in past Cup of Nations tournaments. Ghana, as host, were automatically seeded as the top team in Group A. Egypt, the defending champions, were seeded as the top team in Group C. Each group consists of four teams, one drawn from each of the pots. * Pot 1: Ghana (Group A), Egypt (Group C), Nigeria, Tunisia * Pot 2: Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal * Pot 3: Guinea, Mali, South Africa, Zambia * Pot 4: Angola, Benin, Namibia, Sudan

Tournament ball

During the previous editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, the ball used was not a ball especially made for the tournament. As the tournament was held on even years, the same years big tournaments such as the UEFA European Championships or the FIFA World Cup were held, the official ball for the tournament held this year was used for the African Cup of Nations: the Adidas Roteiro in 2004, or the Adidas Teamgeist in 2006. However, for the 2008 tournament, Adidas made a special ball, clearly different from the Adidas Europass going to be used five months later for the Euro. The ball was named Wawa Aba and was designed to include host nation Ghana's red, yellow and green. The ball was later used for the other African competitions. For the

Akan Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people *Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan *Central Tano languages, a language group w ...

culture originating from Western Africa, one of the

Adinkra symbols ''Adinkra'' are symbols from Ghana that represent concepts or aphorisms. ''Adinkra'' are used extensively in fabrics, logos and pottery. They are incorporated into walls and other architectural features. ''Adinkra'' symbols appear on some tradit ...

named ''Wawa Aba'' is a symbol of hardiness, toughness, and perseverance. People there particularly believe in the strength and team spirit of a community. The ''Wawa Aba'' literally means "seed(s) of Wawa tree (''

Triplochiton scleroxylon ''Triplochiton scleroxylon'' is a tree of the genus ''Triplochiton'' of the family ''Malvaceae''. The timber is known by the common names African whitewood, abachi, obeche (in Nigeria), wawa (in Ghana), ayous (in Cameroon) and sambawawa (in Ivory ...

'')”, one of the strongest and most processible woods of Africa and whose seeds are very hard. For the population, the ''Wawa Aba'' mainly has mystical significance. These are people who don't let failure discourage them, who seize all opportunities successfully and who are thus just as strong and adaptable as the ''Wawa Aba''.

Group stage

Tie-breaking criteria

Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria: # points earned in the matches between the teams concerned; # goal difference in the matches between the teams concerned; # number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned; # goal difference in all group matches; # number of goals scored in all group matches; # drawing of lots by the organizing committee. ''All times given as local time (

UTC+0 UTC+00:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +00:00. In ISO 8601, an example of the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+00:00. It is also known by the following geographical or historical names: *Greenwich Mean ...

)''

Group A

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group B

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group C

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group D

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

----

Third place match

Final

Awards

Player of the tournament

Hosny Abd Rabo Hosni Abd Rabbo Abdul Muttalib Ibrahim ( ar, حسني عبد ربه عبد المطلب إبراهيم; born 1 November 1984) is an Egyptian footballer manager and a former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Hosny wa ...

Top scorer

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation from 11 December 2021. In his prime, Eto'o was regarded by pundits as one of ...

– 5 goals

Best Goalkeeper

Essam El-Hadary Essam Kamal Tawfiq El Hadary ( ar, عصام كمال توفيق الحضري; born 15 January 1973) is an Egyptian goalkeeping coach and former professional footballer. Nicknamed the "High Dam", El Hadary spent the largest portion of his club ...

Best XI

The following players were selected as the best in their respective positions, based on their performances throughout the tournament. Their performances were analysed by the tournament's Technical Study Group (TSG), who picked the team. ;Substitutes * Richard Kingson * Hany Said *

Ahmed Fathy Ahmed Fathi Abdelmonem Ahmed Ibrahim ( ar, أحمد فتحي; born 10 November 1984) is an Egyptian professional Association football, footballer who plays for Pyramids FC, Pyramids. Born in Banha, he usually plays in the right back role for cl ...

* Frej Saber *

Stéphane Mbia Stéphane Mbia Etoundi (born 20 May 1986) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or defender. He played 179 games and scored nine goals in Ligue 1 over nine seasons playing for Rennes, Marseille and Toul ...

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at ...

Kader Keïta Kader may refer to: * ''Kader'' (film), a 2006 Turkish drama film *Kader Group, a toy manufacturer of Hong Kong People with the given name * Kader Abdolah (born 1954), Iranian-Dutch writer, poet and columnist. *Kader Asmal (1934–2011), South Af ...

Goalscorers

;5 goals *

;4 goals *

Manucho Mateus Alberto Contreiras Gonçalves (born 7 March 1983), commonly known as Manucho, is an Angolan former professional footballer who played as a striker. Manucho moved from Petro Atletico to Manchester United in January 2008. Before playing ...

Mohamed Aboutrika Mohamed Mohamed Mohamed Aboutrika (Arabic language, Arabic: محمد محمد محمد أبوتريكة‎ (repeated three times); born 7 November 1978) is an Egyptian retired professional Association football, footballer who played as an Midfiel ...

Amr Zaki Amr Hassan Zaki ( ar, عمرو زكي; born 1 April 1983) is an Egyptian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He has played for numerous different clubs in Egypt, Russia, England, Turkey and Kuwait. Zaki has made 63 appearan ...

;3 goals *

Salomon Kalou Salomon Armand Magloire Kalou (born 5 August 1985) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward and winger for Djiboutian club Arta/Solar7. He previously played for Feyenoord from 2003 to 2006 and Chelsea from 2006 to 2012. ...

Boubacar Sanogo Boubacar Sanogo (born 17 December 1982) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Born in Dimbokro in the Ivory Coast, Sanogo started his career in Tunisia and then went to Al-Ain FC in the UAE League, ...

Junior Agogo Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

Sulley Muntari Suleyman Ali "Sulley" Muntari (born 27 August 1984) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Italy, playing for clubs such as Udinese, Internazionale, and Milan. During his time wit ...

* Soufiane Alloudi ;2 goals *

Geremi Geremi Sorele Njitap Fotso (born 20 December 1978), known simply as Geremi, is a Cameroonian former footballer. He was a versatile player able to play at right back, right midfield or defensive midfielder, known for his power, pace, combative ...

Joseph-Désiré Job Joseph-Désiré Job (born 1 December 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a left-winger or attacking midfielder. Born in France, Job represented the Cameroon national team. After starting his career in France, Job moved to ...

Mohamed Zidan Mohamed Abdallah Mohamed Zidan ( ar, محمد عبد الله محمد زيدان) (born 11 December 1981), known as Mohamed Zidan, is an Egyptian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Early career Mohamed Z ...

Michael Essien Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder and is currently a member of Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland's coaching staff. He was ...

Pascal Feindouno Pascal Feindouno (born 27 February 1981) is a Guinean former professional footballer who played as a winger. In his prime, he was widely recognised as one of the best footballers to come out of Guinea. He scored 30 goals in 85 appearances betwe ...

Brian Brendell Brian Brendell (born 7 September 1986, in Rehoboth) is a Namibian football midfielder with FC Civics of the Namibia Premier League. A member of the Namibia national football team The Namibia national football team represents Namibia in men ...

Yakubu Yakubu is an English transliteration of a West African name and is a cognate of Jacob and James. Notable people with the name include: ;Given name * Yakubu (born 1982 as Yakubu Ayegbeni), Nigerian footballer * Yakubu (Gobir ruler), historical ruler ...

Elrio van Heerden Elrio van Heerden (, ; born 11 July 1983) is a South African retired footballer who played as a midfielder for the likes of Copenhagen, Club Brugge and Blackburn Rovers, among other clubs. He was previously also been an established member of th ...

Chaouki Ben Saada Chaouki Ben Saada ( ar, شوقي بن سعادة; born 1 July 1984) is a French-born former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and forward for the Tunisia national team. Club career Born in Bastia, France, Ben Saada made 170 ...

* Francileudo dos Santos *

Chris Katongo Christopher Katongo (born 31 August 1982) is a Zambian former professional footballer who played as a striker. At international level, he amassed over 100 caps between 2003 and 2016 for the Zambia national team. He is an Africa Cup of Nations ...

;1 goal *

Flávio Flávio is a Portuguese language given name, equivalent of Latin Flavius, and Italian and Spanish Flavio. The Portuguese diminutive form is Flavinho. People * Flávio da Silva Amado (1979), better known as Flávio, Angolan footballer *Antônio Flá ...

Razak Omotoyossi Razak Omotoyossi (born 8 October 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker for JA Cotonou. Born in Nigeria, he appeared for the Benin national team at international level. He played in Nigeria, Egypt, Sweden, Saudi Ara ...

Achille Emana Achille is a French and Italian masculine given name, derived from the Greek mythological hero Achilles. It may refer to: People Artists * Achille Beltrame (1871–1945), Italian painter * Achille Calici (c. 1565–?), Italian painter * Ach ...

* Alain N'Kong *

Aruna Dindane Aruna Dindane (born 26 November 1980) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He has 62 caps and 17 goals for the Ivory Coast since his debut in 2000, and has played at four Africa Cup of Nations and two FIFA Wor ...

Bakari Koné Bakari Koné (born 17 September 1981) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a winger. Club career Early career Koné was born in Abidjan. Like many other Ivorian stars, he began his career at the famed youth academy at A ...

Yaya Touré Gnégnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is an academy coach for Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. Touré aspired to be a striker during his yout ...

Marco Zoro Marc-André "Marco" Zoro Kpolo (born 27 December 1983) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Club career Born in Abidjan, Zoro started his career in Italy, first with U.S. Salernitana 1919, without howev ...

* Haminu Dramani *

Asamoah Gyan Asamoah Gyan ( ; born 22 November 1985) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who last played as a striker for Legon Cities FC and is the former captain of the Ghanaian national team. Gyan began his career in 2003 with Ghanaian Premier Leag ...

Quincy Owusu-Abeyie Quincy Jamie Owusu-Abeyie (born 15 April 1986), often known simply as Quincy, is a former professional footballer who plays as a forward or left winger for Dutch amateur club SV Robinhood. Quincy is also a rapper, who goes by the name BLOW. H ...

* Ismaël Bangoura * Oumar Kalabane *

Souleymane Youla Souleymane Youla (born 29 November 1981) is a Guinean football player. He has Turkish citizenship with the name Süleyman Yula. Career Club Youla's professional career started in Belgium in 1999, when Lokeren signed him to replace the departed ...

Frédéric Kanouté Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (born 2 September 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker for several top-tier clubs in Europe, enjoying his greatest success with La Liga side Sevilla. Kanouté was named the 2007 African Foot ...

Hicham Aboucherouane Hicham Aboucherouane ( ar, هشام بوشروان; born 2 April 1981) is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a winger. He began his career 1997 with Najm El Aounat, 1999 was transferred to Raja Casablanca. He was loaned out ...

Abdeslam Ouaddou Abdeslam Ouaddou ( ar, عبدالسلام وادو; born 1 November 1978) is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. Club career Ouaddou was born in Alnif, Morocco. He started his footbal ...

Tarik Sektioui Tarik Sektioui ( ar, طارق السكتيوي; born 13 May 1977) is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a right winger, currently the manager of Union de Touarga. He spent most of his professional career in the Netherlands ...

* Monsef Zerka *

Mikel John Obi Mikel John Obi (born John Michael Nchekwube Obinna; 22 April 1987) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Mikel began his career with local club Plateau United, before joining Norwegian club Lyn at th ...

Moustapha Bayal Sall Moustapha Bayal Sall (born 30 November 1985) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Jordanian club Al Faisaly SC. At international level, he has represented Senegal, earning 29 caps and scoring one goal. Playing ...

* Henri Camara * Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye *

Diomansy Kamara Diomansy Mehdi Moustapha Kamara (born 8 November 1980) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played internationally for Senegal, whom he represented at three Africa Cup of Nations. Club career Early career Born in Par ...

Katlego Mphela Katlego Abel Mphela (born 29 November 1984) is a South African retired professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Mphela, a product of Jomo Cosmos, played in France for RC Strasbourg Alsace and Stade de Reims, both with limi ...

Yassine Chikhaoui Yassine Chikhaoui ( ar, ياسين الشيخاوي; born 21 September 1986) is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Tunisian club Étoile du Sahel. Club career Étoile du Sahel Chikhaoui became captain of ...

Issam Jemâa Issam Jemâa ( ar, عصام جمعة; born 28 January 1984 in Gabès) is a Tunisian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his footballing career for Espérance Sportive de Tunis, and was later signed by French side ...

* Mejdi Traoui * James Chamanga *

Felix Katongo Felix Katongo (born 18 April 1984) is a Zambian professional footballer who plays for as a midfielder for Green Buffaloes. Between 2004 and 2016, he made 68 FIFA-official appearances scoring 5 goals for the Zambia national team. His older broth ...

Jacob Mulenga Jacob Mulenga (born 12 February 1984) is a Zambian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Mulenga started his footballing career at age 18 with hometown club Afrisport, before moving to Châteauroux in 2004. Five years later, ...

;Own goals * Mohammed Ali El Khider (playing against Cameroon)

References

External links

2008 African Cup of Nations at CAFonline.com

Africa Cup of Nations on BBC 1Xtra

African Cup of Nations 2008 coverage on Reuters.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:2008 Africa Cup Of Nations Africa Cup of Nations tournaments International association football competitions hosted by Ghana 2007–08 in Ghanaian football Africa Cup of Nations 2008

Nations A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

January 2008 sports events in Africa February 2008 sports events in Africa