2006 Africa Cup of Nations

The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt, from 20 January to 10 February. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. Egypt won its fifth championship, beating Ivory Coast in the final 4–2 in a penalty shootout after the regulation time had ended in a goalless draw.

2006 Africa Cup of Nations
2006 كأس أمم أفريقيا
Africa Cup of Nations 2006 official logo
Tournament details
Host country	Egypt
Dates	20 January – 10 February
Teams	16
Venue	6 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Egypt (5th title)
Runners-up	Ivory Coast
Third place	Nigeria
Fourth place	Senegal
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	73 (2.28 per match)
Attendance	714,054 (22,314 per match)
Top scorer	Samuel Eto'o (5 goals)
Best player	Ahmed Hassan
← 2004 2008 →

Host selection

Bids :

Algeria
Egypt (selected as hosts)
Ivory Coast
Libya

The organization of the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was awarded to Egypt on 24 October 2002 by the CAF Executive Committee meeting in Cairo, Egypt. Voters had a choice among four countries : Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Libya.

This marks the fourth time that Egypt has hosted the African Cup after 1959, 1974 and 1986.

It also coincides with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of CAF.

Results
Nation	Votes
Egypt	7
Libya	2
Algeria	1
Ivory Coast	1
Total votes	11

Qualification

For the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, qualification was done through the CAF's qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Whereas only the winner of each group qualified for the World Cup, the top 3 finishers in each of the five qualification groups gained entry into the Africa Cup of Nations. The exception was qualification group 3, which contained hosts Egypt. Since Egypt qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations automatically as the hosts, the final berth was instead awarded to the fourth-place finishers, Libya.

2006 also marked the first time that the defending champion did not automatically qualify for the finals, although title holders Tunisia did manage to qualify.

Participating teams

Angola
Cameroon
DR Congo
Ivory Coast
Egypt (qualified as hosts)
Ghana
Guinea
Libya
Morocco
Nigeria
Senegal
South Africa
Togo
Tunisia (holders)
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Squads

Venues

Cairo	Cairo Alexandria Port Said Ismailia		Port Said
Cairo International Stadium			Port Said Stadium
Capacity: 74,100			Capacity: 24,060

Cairo			Alexandria
Cairo Military Academy Stadium			Haras El Hodoud Stadium
Capacity: 25,500			Capacity: 21,650

Ismailia			Alexandria
Ismailia Stadium			Alexandria Stadium
Capacity: 16,606			Capacity: 19,676

Draw

The draw for the final tournament took place on 20 October 2005 in Cairo. The 16 teams were split into four pots, with Pot 1 containing the top four seeded nations. Egypt, as hosts, were automatically seeded as the top team in Group A. Tunisia, the defending champions, were seeded as the top team in Group C. The remaining 14 teams were ranked based on their records in the three last editions of the competition.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Egypt (hosts) Tunisia (title holders) Cameroon Nigeria	Morocco South Africa Senegal DR Congo	Ghana Ivory Coast Guinea Togo	Zambia Angola Zimbabwe Libya

Group stage

The top two teams of each group (highlighted in green) progress to the quarter-finals.

All times local: EET (UTC+2)

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Egypt (H)	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Ivory Coast	3	2	0	1	4	4	0	6	Advance to knockout stage
3	Morocco	3	0	2	1	0	1	−1	2
4	Libya	3	0	1	2	1	5	−4	1

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(H) Hosts

20 January 2006