1962 African Cup of Nations

The 1962 African Cup of Nations was the third edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa (CAF). It was hosted by Ethiopia. Nine countries entered the competition, including the reigning champions Egypt, meaning for the first time a qualification tournament was required. The finals only included four teams. Egypt, as holders, and Ethiopia as hosts, qualified automatically meaning each needed to play only one game to reach the final. Ethiopia won the tournament for the first time, defeating UAR 4–2, after extra time in the final.^[1]

1962 African Cup of Nations

1962 የአፍሪካ ዋንጫ
Tournament details
Host country	Ethiopia
Dates	14–21 January
Teams	4
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Ethiopia (1st title)
Runners-up	United Arab Republic
Third place	Tunisia
Fourth place	Uganda
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Goals scored	18 (4.5 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Badawi Abdel Fattah Luciano Vassallo (3 goals each)
Best player(s)	Mengistu Worku
← 1959 1963 →

Participating nations

This tournament has the highest goals-per-game average in Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

Qualified teams

Main article: 1962 African Cup of Nations qualification

This page details the process of qualifying for the 1962 African Cup of Nations.

Nine nations initially entered the competition, with Ethiopia and Egypt both automatically qualified as hosts and title holders respectively. Sudan withdrew before the draw, and Morocco withdrew before play began, thus leaving five teams vying for the remaining two spots in the finals. This was the first time Sudan did not compete in the tournament.

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament[a]
Ethiopia	Hosts		2 (1957, 1959)
United Arab Republic	Holders	29 May 1959	2 (1957, 1959)
Uganda	2nd round winners	29 October 1961	0 (debut)
Tunisia	2nd round winners	10 December 1961	0 (debut)

Notes

1. Bold indicates champion for that year, Italic indicates host.

Squads

Main article: 1962 African Cup of Nations squads

Venues

Addis Ababa	Addis Ababa
Hailé Sélassié Stadium
Capacity: 30,000

Final tournament

	Semi-finals				Final
	14 January – Addis Ababa
	Ethiopia	4
					21 January – Addis Ababa
	Tunisia	2
					Ethiopia (a.e.t.)	4
	18 January – Addis Ababa
					United Arab Rep.	2
	United Arab Rep.	2
	Uganda	1
					Third place
					20 January – Addis Ababa
					Tunisia	3
					Uganda	0

Semifinals

14 January 1962

Ethiopia	4–2	Tunisia
L. Vassallo 32' (pen.), 75' Zeleke 36' Worku 69'		Merrichkou 13' Chérif 29'

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 30,000

---

18 January 1962

United Arab Republic	2–1	Uganda
Badawi 50' Selim 57'		Bunyenyezi 16'

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Third place match

20 January 1962

Tunisia	3–0	Uganda
Jedidi 3' Laaouini 53' Meddab 85'

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Referee: M. Lorenzo (Kenya)

Final

Main article: 1962 African Cup of Nations Final

21 January 1962

Ethiopia	4–2 (a.e.t.)	United Arab Republic
Kidane 74' L. Vassallo 84'[a] I. Vassallo 101' Worku 118'		Badawi 35', 75'

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Wilson Brooks (Uganda)

Scorers

3 goals

• Badawi Abdel Fattah

• Luciano Vassallo^[a]

2 goals

• Mengistu Worku^[a]

1 goal

• Tekle Kidane
• Italo Vassallo
• Girma Zeleke
• Moncef Chérif
• Mohamed Salah Jedidi
• Chedly Laaouini
• Rachid Meddeb
• Ammar Merrichkou
• John Bunyenyezi
• Saleh Selim

Notes

1. Mengistu Worku was initially credited with scoring twice in the final, but later, one of his goals in the 84th minute was attributed to Luciano Vassallo.^[2]