The 1978 African Cup of Nations was the eleventh edition of the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

, the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

and

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

, Ghana. The format of the

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

changed from

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

: the field of eight teams was still split into two groups of four, but the final group stage was eliminated in favor of the knockout semifinals used in tournaments prior to 1976 (except 1959).

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

won its third championship, beating

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

in the final 2−0.

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

and

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

were both disqualified in the second round of qualification: Ivory Coast for using an ineligible player, and Mali after stadium security and police assaulted match officials during the first leg. Since Mali had received a first round walkover after Niger failed to appear, Upper Volta, who had been beaten by the Ivory Coast in the first round, were given their place in the final tournament.

Qualified teams

The 8 qualified teams are: ;Notes

Squads

Venues

The competition was played in two venues in

and

Group stage

Tiebreakers

If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking: # Goal difference in all group matches # Greater number of goals scored in all group matches # Drawing of lots

Group A

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Group B

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Knockout stage

Semi-finals

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Third place match

¹ The match was abandoned after Tunisia walked off in the 42nd minute with the score tied at 1–1 to protest the officiating. Nigeria were awarded a 2–0 win, and Tunisia were suspended for two years (also banning them from the next tournament).

Final

Goalscorers

CAF Team of the Tournament

Goalkeeper * Mohammed Al-Hazaz Defenders *

Mokhtar Dhouieb Mokhtar Dhouib (born 23 March 1952) is a retired Tunisian footballer who played for the Tunisia national team. He was a member of the Tunisia squad at the 1978 FIFA World Cup. In Tunisia's first ever World Cup match, he scored the third goal in ...

* James Kuuku Dadzie * Khaled Gasmi * Larbi Ihardane Midfielders * Moses Nsereko * Karim Abdul Razak * Adolf Armah * Phillip Omondi Forwards * Segun Odegbami * Mohammed Polo

References

External links

Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF)

{{DEFAULTSORT:1978 African Cup of Nations International association football competitions hosted by Ghana Africa Cup of Nations tournaments African Cup of Nations, 1978 Football competitions in Accra Nations, 1978

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...