2006 Africa Cup of Nations

2006 Africa Cup of Nations
كأس أمم أفريقيا 2006
	Africa Cup of Nations 2006 official logo
Tournament details
Host country	Egypt
Dates	20 January – 10 February
Teams	16
Venue(s)	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(s)	Samuel Eto'o (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Ahmed Hassan
	← 2004 2008 →

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. 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 a goalless draw.

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 between 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. Tunisia, 2004's champion, qualified for the Cup of Nations by winning their group in the qualification process.

Participating teams

Squads

Venues

Cairo Alexandria Port Said Ismailia		Cairo	Cairo
		Cairo International Stadium	Cairo Military Academy Stadium
		Capacity: 74,100	Capacity: 25,500

Alexandria	Port Said	Alexandria	Ismailia
Haras El Hodoud Stadium	Port Said Stadium	Alexandria Stadium	Ismailia Stadium
Capacity: 21,650	Capacity: 24,060	Capacity: 19,676	Capacity: 16,606

Croconile, the championship's official mascot

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

19:00

Egypt	3–0	Libya
Mido 18' Aboutrika 22' A. Hassan 78'

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Attendance: 65,000

Referee: Lassina Paré (Burkina Faso)

21 January 2006