Ivory Coast became Africa Cup of Nations champions for the third time as they won the 2023 tournament. Here is the list of all winners since the tournament’s inception
| year | winner | runner-up |
|---|---|---|
2023 –
Winner – Cote D’Ivoire Runner Up – Nigeria | ||
| 1957 | Egypt | Ethiopia |
| 1959 | Egypt | Sudan |
| 1962 | Ethiopia | Egypt |
| 1963 | Ghana | Sudan |
| 1965 | Ghana | Tunisia |
| 1968 | Congo (Kinshasa) | Ghana |
| 1970 | Sudan | Ghana |
| 1972 | Congo (Brazzaville) | Mali |
| 1974 | Zaire | Zambia |
| 1976 | Morocco | Guinea |
| 1978 | Ghana | Uganda |
| 1980 | Nigeria | Algeria |
| 1982 | Ghana | Libya |
| 1984 | Cameroon | Nigeria |
| 1986 | Egypt | Cameroon |
| 1988 | Cameroon | Nigeria |
| 1990 | Algeria | Nigeria |
| 1992 | Côte d’Ivoire | Ghana |
| 1994 | Nigeria | Zambia |
| 1996 | South Africa | Tunisia |
| 1998 | Egypt | South Africa |
| 2000 | Cameroon | Nigeria |
| 2002 | Cameroon | Senegal |
| 2004 | Tunisia | Morocco |
| 2006 | Egypt | Côte d’Ivoire |
| 2008 | Egypt | Cameroon |
| 2010 | Egypt | Ghana |
| 2012 | Zambia | Côte d’Ivoire |
| 2013* | Nigeria | Burkina Faso |
| 2015 | Côte d’Ivoire | Ghana |
| 2017 | Cameroon | Egypt |
| 2019 | Algeria | Senegal |
| 2021 | Senegal | Egypt |
READ ALSO: Ivory Coast beats Nigeria 2-1 to win 2023 AFCON
Ivory Coast became Africa Cup of Nations champions for the third time as they won a remarkable tournament on home soil in February 2024.
The Elephants fought from a goal down in the final in Abidjan to defeat Nigeria 2-1, Sebastien Haller scoring the winning goal less than two years on from a diagnosis of testicular cancer that put his professional career under threat.
Egypt have been the dominant nation in Africa Cup of Nations history with The Pharaohs winning seven titles including the first edition of the competition back in 1957.
Six other nations have won the trophy more than once with an overall total of 15 winners of the tournament.
| Rank | Nation | AFCON titles | Years won |
| 1. | Egypt | 7 | 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010 |
| 2. | Cameroon | 5 | 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017 |
| 3. | Ghana | 4 | 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982 |
| 4. | Ivory Coast | 3 | 1992, 2015, 2023 |
| = | Nigeria | 3 | 1980, 1994, 2013 |
| = | Algeria | 2 | 1990, 2019 |
| = | DR Congo | 2 | 1968, 1974 |
| 8. | Zambia | 1 | 2012 |
| = | Tunisia | 1 | 2004 |
| = | Sudan | 1 | 1970 |
| = | Senegal | 1 | 2021 |
| = | Ethiopia | 1 | 1962 |
| = | Morocco | 1 | 1976 |
| = | South Africa | 1 | 1996 |
| = | Congo | 1 | 1972 |
In the first tournament in 1957, there were only three participating nations: Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. South Africa was originally scheduled to join, but was disqualified due to the apartheid policies of the government then in power.[4] Since then, the tournament has expanded greatly, making it necessary to hold a qualifying tournament. The number of participants in the final tournament reached 16 in 1998 (16 teams were to compete in 1996, but Nigeria withdrew, reducing the field to 15, and the same happened with Togo’s withdrawal in 2010), and until 2017, the format had been unchanged, with the 16 teams being drawn into four groups of four teams each, with the top two teams of each group advancing to a “knock-out” stage. On 20 July 2017, the Africa Cup of Nations was moved from January to June and expanded from 16 to 24 teams