The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The competition took place between 21 January and 12 February 2012, and it was co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The bidding process for hosting the tournament ended in September 2006.
The matches were played in four stadiums in four host cities, with the final played at the newly built Stade d'Angondjé in Gabon's capital and largest city, Libreville. Fourteen teams were selected for participation via a continental qualification tournament that began in July 2010.
The 2012 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations took place against the backdrop of political turmoil. Libya and Tunisia qualified for the tournament, even as the Arab Spring brought upheaval and regime change to both nations. Traditional African footballing nations such as reigning champions Egypt (also affected by political events), as well as Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa had failed to qualify. Players from third-placed Mali had pleaded for the insurgency in the north of their country to end.
In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These eight teams advanced to the knockout stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final. Both host nations, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, were eliminated from the competition at the quarter-final stage.
In the final, unfancied Zambia defeated third-time finalists Ivory Coast after a dramatic penalty shootout, despite the fact that Ivory Coast did not concede a single goal during the entire tournament, giving Zambia their first continental title. Manager Hervé Renard dedicated their win to the members of the national team who died in a plane crash near the final's venue in Libreville in 1993.
Host selection Bids : Angola (selected as hosts for 2010) Gabon / Equatorial Guinea (selected as hosts for 2012) Libya (selected as hosts for 2013) Nigeria (selected as reserve hosts for 2010, 2012 & 2013 tournaments)
Rejected Bids : Benin / Central African Republic Botswana Mozambique Namibia Senegal Zimbabwe
On 4 September 2006, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) approved a compromise between rival countries to host the Africa Cup of Nations after it ruled out Nigeria. CAF agreed to award the next three editions from 2010 to Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Libya respectively. They assigned Angola in 2010, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, which submitted a joint bid in 2012, and Libya for 2014.
This edition was awarded to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to rotate the hosting of the cup and give hosting chance for first-timer nations.
Two-time former host Nigeria was the reserve host for the 2010, 2012 and 2014 tournaments, in the event that any of the host countries failed to meet the requirements established by CAF, although this ended up being unnecessary.
The 2014 tournament was pushed forward to 2013 and subsequently held in odd-numbered years to avoid clashing with the FIFA World Cup.
Qualification
The qualification process involved ten groups of four, one of which was reduced to a group of three after the withdrawal of Mauritania, and one group of five. The top team from each group goes through, as well as the second placed team from the group of five. The two best second place teams also qualify. At the end of the qualification process, fourteen teams would have qualified, as well as the two host nations. The first qualifiers were held on 1 July 2010.
Qualified teams
Country Qualified as Qualification date Appearance in finals Previous best performance Regional body FIFA ranking1 Continental ranking1 JWGroup J Winner 048 October 2011 066th 40Quarterfinals (2008, 2010) COSAFA 85 19 KWGroup K Winner 0126 March 2011 011st 20none COSAFA 94 21 FWGroup F Winner 033 September 2011 088th 50Fourth place (1998) WAFU 66 14 HWGroup H Winner 025 June 2011 1919th 80Winner (1992) WAFU 18 1 AACo-host 0029 July 2007 011st 20none UNIFFAC 151 41 AACo-host 0029 July 2007 055th 30Quarterfinals (1996) UNIFFAC 91 20 IWGroup I Winner 048 October 2011 1818th 90Winner (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982) WAFU 26 2 BWGroup B Winner 048 October 2011 1010th 60Second place (1976) WAFU 79 17 RU Top Two Runner-Up 048 October 2011 033rd 60Second place (1982) UNAF 63 13 AWGroup A Winner 048 October 2011 077th 60Second place (1972) WAFU 69 15 DWGroup D Winner 059 October 2011 1414th 80Winner (1976) UNAF 61 12 GWGroup G Winner 048 October 2011 011st 20none WAFU 98 22 EWGroup E Winner 033 September 2011 1212th 60Second place (2002) WAFU 43 5 RU Top Two Runner-Up 059 October 2011 088th 80Winner (1970) CECAFA 120 30 KXGroup K Runner-up 048 October 2011 1515th 80Winner (2004) UNAF 59 10 CWGroup C Winner 048 October 2011 1515th 70Second place (1974, 1994) COSAFA 71 16
1 FIFA World Rankings, release of 18 January 2012.
Controversies Togo Togo were initially banned from the 2012 and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments by CAF after they withdrew from the 2010 tournament following an attack on their team bus. Togo appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepping in to mediate. The ban was subsequently lifted with immediate effect on 14 May 2010, after a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee. Togo were therefore free to play in the 2012 and 2013 qualifiers.
Nigeria On 30 June 2010, after Nigeria's exit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan punished the team for a poor campaign by imposing a two-year ban from international competition. This would have resulted in the Nigerians missing out on both the 2012 qualifying phase and the 2012 African Cup of Nations. However, on 5 July, the Nigerian government dropped the ban after FIFA threatened to impose harsher international sanctions as a result of the government interference. Nigeria competed in qualifying for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations as scheduled but failed to qualify.
Venues The opening match, one semi-final and the third place match were held in Equatorial Guinea, while the other semi-final and the final were held in Gabon.
CityStadiumCapacity BataEstadio de Bata41,000 FrancevilleStade de Franceville22,000 LibrevilleStade d'Angondjé40,000 MalaboEstadio de Malabo20,000
Draw The draw for the final tournament took place on 29 October 2011 at the Sipopo Conference Palace in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. The draw ceremony was attended by the two presidents from the host countries, President Ali Bongo of Gabon and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea. The draw saw the 16 qualified teams being pitted into four groups of four teams each. The two top teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals with the winners progressing to the semi-finals and final eventually.
The two hosts were automatically seeded into pot 1. The other 14 qualified teams were ranked based on their performances during the previous three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. For each of the last three African Cup of Nations final tournaments, the following system of points is adopted for the qualified countries: Classification Points awarded Winner 7 Runner-up 5 Losing semi-finalists 3 Losing quarter-finalists 2 Eliminated in 1st round 1
Moreover, a weighted coefficient on points was given to each of the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations as follows: 2010 edition: points to be multiplied by 3 2008 edition: points to be multiplied by 2 2006 edition: points to be multiplied by 1
The teams were then divided into four pots based on the ranking. Each group contained one team from each pot. Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, as co-hosts, were automatically seeded as the top team in Group A and C respectively.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 (co-hosts) (co-hosts) (22 pts) (17 pts) (11 pts) (9 pts) (9 pts) (6 pts) (5 pts) (5 pts) (3 pts) (3 pts) (2 pts) (1 pt) (0 pts) (0 pts)
Match officials The following referees were chosen for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
Referees LinesmenMohamed Benouza Djamel Haimoudi Néant Alioum Noumandiez Doué Gehad Grisha Eric Otogo-Castane Bakary Gassama Hamada Nampiandraza Koman Coulibaly Ali Lemghaifry Rajindraparsad Seechurn Bouchaïb El Ahrach Badara Diatta Eddy Maillet Daniel Bennett Khalid Abdel Rahman Slim Jedidi Janny SikazweAlbdelhak Etchiali Jean-Claude Birumushahu Evarist Menkouande Yanoussa Moussa Richard Bouende-Malonga Songuifolo Yeo Angesom Ogbamariam Theophile Vinga Aboubacar Doumbouya Marwa Range Moffat Champiti Balla Diarra Balkrishna Bootun Redouane Achik David Shaanika Peter Edibe Felicien Kabanda Djibril Camara Jason Damoo Zakhele Siwela Bechir Hassani
Squads
Each team's squad for the tournament consisted of 23 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament. Each participating national association had to submit their squad by 11 January 2012 (midnight CET). Replacement of seriously injured players was permitted until 24 hours before the team in question's first match of the tournament.
Group stage Groups A and B took place in Equatorial Guinea, while Groups C and D were held in Gabon. Notably, there was not a single goalless draw during the group stage.
Tie-breaking criteria If 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 matches between the teams concerned; goal difference in all group matches; number of goals scored in all group matches; fair play points system taking into account the number of yellow and red cards; drawing of lots by the organising committee.
All times are West Africa Time (UTC+1).
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winners if necessary.
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
Final
Awards Player of the tournament: Christopher Katongo Top goalscorer of the competition: Emmanuel Mayuka Fair Player of the competition: Jean-Jacques Gosso Fair Play award:
Team of the tournament The following players were selected in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament for their performances throughout the tournament. The team was selected by the tournament's Technical Study Group (TSG).
Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards Kennedy Mweene Jean-Jacques Gosso Stophira Sunzu John Mensah Adama Tamboura Emmanuel Mayuka Yaya Touré Gervinho Seydou Keita Christopher Katongo Didier Drogba
Substitutes Boubacar Barry Rui Youssef Msakni Manucho Éric Mouloungui Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Sadio Diallo Cheick Diabaté Houssine Kharja Mudather El Tahir Rainford Kalaba Kwadwo Asamoah
Tournament rankings Ranking criteriaFor teams eliminated in the same knockout round, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings: Goal difference in round eliminated; Goals scored in round eliminated; If teams eliminated in the semi-finals or quarter-finals are tied, the above criteria are reapplied for the previous knockout round, with this process repeated once more should two semi-finalists remain tied; Points in group stage; Goal difference in group stage; Goals scored in group stage; Disciplinary points.
For teams eliminated in the group stage, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings: Position in group; Points; Goal difference; Goals scored; Disciplinary points.
| colspan="11"| Eliminated in the quarter-finals
| colspan="11"| Eliminated in the group stage
Scorers 3 goals