1972 African Cup of Nations

1972 African Cup of Nations
Coupe d'Afrique des Nations 1972
Tournament details
Host countryCameroon
Dates23 February – 5 March
Teams8
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Congo (1st title)
Runners-up Mali
Third place Cameroon
Fourth place Zaire
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored53 (3.31 per match)
Attendance425,000 (26,563 per match)
Top scorer(s)Mali Fantamady Keita
(5 goals)
Best player(s)Republic of the Congo François M'Pelé

The 1972 African Cup of Nations was the eighth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (CAF). It was hosted by Cameroon, in the cities of Yaoundé and Douala. Just like in 1970, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. The People's Republic of the Congo won its first championship, beating Mali in the final 3−2.

Qualified teams

For the first time, Ethiopia did not compete. The 8 qualified teams are:

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament
 Cameroon Hosts 1 (1970)
 Sudan Holders 16 February 1970 4 (1957, 1959, 1963, 1970)
 Morocco 2nd round winners 16 April 1971 0 (debut)
 Togo 2nd round winners 20 June 1971 0 (debut)
 Mali 2nd round winners 27 June 1971 0 (debut)
 Congo 2nd round winners 18 July 1971 1 (1968)
 Kenya 2nd round winners 18 July 1971 0 (debut)
 Zaire 2nd round winners 27 October 1971 3 (1965, 1968, 1970)
Notes
  1. ^ Bold indicates champion for that year, Italic indicates host.

Squads

Venues

The competition was played in two venues in Yaoundé and Douala.

Yaoundé 1972 African Cup of Nations is located in CameroonYaoundéYaoundéDoualaDouala Douala
Stade Omnisports Stade de la Réunification
Capacity: 38,720 Capacity: 30,000

Group stage

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Cameroon 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3 5
 Mali 3 0 3 0 5 5 0 3
 Kenya 3 0 2 1 3 4 −1 2
 Togo 3 0 2 1 4 6 −2 2
Source: 23 February 1972
Cameroon 2–1 Kenya
N'Doga 7'
N'Dongo 20'		 Niva 44'
Stade Omnisports, YaoundéAttendance: 40,000Referee: Abdelkader Ben Jelloun (Morocco) 24 February 1972
Mali 3–3 Togo
B Traoré 10'
F. Keita 46'
B. Touré 49'		 Kaolo 45' (pen.), 60'
Adé 81'
Stade Omnisports, YaoundéAttendance: 45,000Referee: Andre Bernard Ickias (Congo) 26 February 1972
Mali 1–1 Kenya
F. Keita 45' Nicodémus 60'
Stade Omnisports, YaoundéAttendance: 45,000Referee: Pierre Mutombo (Zaire) 26 February 1972
Cameroon 2–0 Togo
Maya 64'
Mvé 79'
Stade Omnisports, YaoundéAttendance: 45,000Referee: Babikr Eissa (Sudan) 28 February 1972
Togo 1–1 Kenya
Kaolo 60' Pelé Ouma 30'
Stade Omnisports, YaoundéAttendance: 45,000Referee: Abdelkader Aouissi (Algeria) 28 February 1972
Cameroon 1–1 Mali
N'Doumbé 67' F. Keita 43'
Stade Omnisports, YaoundéAttendance: 45,000Referee: Mostafa Kamel (Egypt)

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Zaire 3 1 2 0 4 2 +2 4
 Congo 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 3
 Morocco 3 0 3 0 3 3 0 3
 Sudan 3 0 2 1 4 6 −2 2
Source: 25 February 1972
Congo 1–1 Morocco
Moukila 45' Faras 34'
Stade de la Réunification, DoualaAttendance: 15,000Referee: Alfred Olimba (Kenya) 25 February 1972
Zaire 1–1 Sudan
Mayanga 53' Hasabu El-Sagheer 55'
Stade de la Réunification, DoualaAttendance: 5,000Referee: Sané Mady Diallo (Mali) 27 February 1972
Morocco 1–1 Sudan
Faras 32' Abdel-Nadief 49'
Stade de la Réunification, DoualaAttendance: 7,000Referee: Michael Wacka (Cameroon) 27 February 1972
Zaire 2–0 Congo
N'Tumba 16', 59'
Stade de la Réunification, DoualaAttendance: 7,000Referee: Théodore Laclé (Togo) 29 February 1972
Morocco 1–1 Zaire
Faras 36' Mayanga 3'
Stade de la Réunification, DoualaAttendance: 20,000Referee: Robert Foiret (Mauritius) 29 February 1972
Congo 4–2 Sudan
M'Bono 8', 55'
M'Pelé 32'
Bahamboula 46'		 Abdel Wahab 37'
Wahba 44'
Stade de la Réunification, DoualaAttendance: 20,000Referee: George Lamptey (Ghana)

Knockout stage

 Semi-finalsFinal
       
  2 March – Yaoundé
 
   Cameroon 0
  5 March – Yaoundé
   Congo 1
   Congo 3
  2 March – Douala
   Mali 2
   Zaire 3
 
   Mali (a.e.t.) 4
 Third place
 
  4 March – Yaoundé
 
   Cameroon 5
 
   Zaire 2

Semifinals

2 March 1972
Cameroon 0–1 Congo
Minga 31'
Stade Omnisports, YaoundéAttendance: 40,000Referee: Mostafa Kamel (Egypt) 2 March 1972
Zaire 3–4 (a.e.t.) Mali
N'Tumba 6'
Etepé 61'
Ngassebe 78'		 A. Traoré 17'
F. Keita 48', 92'
B. Touré 68'
Stade de la Réunification, DoualaAttendance: 2,000Referee: George Lamptey (Ghana)

Third place match

4 March 1972
Cameroon 5–2 Zaire
Akono 4' (pen.)
N'Dongo 31'
Owona 32'
Mouthé 34'
N'Doga 42'		 Etepé 13'
Mayanga 17'
Stade Omnisports, YaoundéAttendance: 4,000Referee: George Lamptey (Ghana)

Final

5 March 1972
Congo 3–2 Mali
M'Bono 57', 59'
M'Pelé 63'		 Diakhité 42'
M. Traoré 75'
Stade Omnisports, YaoundéAttendance: 40,000Referee: Abdelkader Aouissi (Algeria)

Goalscorers

5 goals 4 goals 3 goals 2 goals 1 goal

Team of the tournament

Source:

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Morocco Allal Ben Kassou Sudan Mohamed El-Sir Abdalla

Zaire Bwanga Tshimen

Cameroon Paul N'lend

Morocco Boujemaa Benkhrif

Zaire Mayanga Maku

Republic of the Congo Noël Minga-Tchibinda

Cameroon Paul-Gaston N'Dongo

Cameroon Jean-Pierre Tokoto

Zaire Kakoko Etepé

Republic of the Congo François M'Pelé

References

  1. ^ "African Nations Cup 1972 - Final Tournament Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 10 October 2023.

External links

Africa Cup of Nations
Editions
Qualification
Finals
Bids
Squads
Statistics
Miscellaneous
Notes: The 2021 and 2023 tournaments were actually held in 2022 and 2024 respectively. • There were no 1957 and 1959 qualifications as places were given by invitation only. • The "finals" articles for 1959 and 1976 are about the decisive matches of final group stages.
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