1968 African Cup of Nations

The 1968 African Cup of Nations was the sixth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (CAF). It was hosted by Ethiopia. The field expanded to eight teams, split into two groups of four; the top two teams in each group advanced to the semifinals. Congo-Kinshasa won its first championship, beating Ghana in the final 1−0.

1968 African Cup of Nations

1968 የአፍሪካ ዋንጫ
Tournament details
Host country	Ethiopia
Dates	12–21 January
Teams	8
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Congo-Kinshasa (1st title)
Runners-up	Ghana
Third place	Ivory Coast
Fourth place	Ethiopia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	52 (3.25 per match)
Attendance	209,000 (13,063 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Laurent Pokou (6 goals)
Best player(s)	Kazadi Mwamba
← 1965 1970 →

Prior to this tournament, the African Cup of Nations were held once every three years, following 1968 they were held once every two years.

Qualified teams

Main article: 1968 African Cup of Nations qualification

Participating nations

The 8 qualified teams are:

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament[a]
Ethiopia	Hosts		5 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965)
Ghana	Holders	21 November 1965	2 (1963, 1965)
Algeria	Group 2 winners	9 April 1967	0 (debut)
Ivory Coast	Group 3 winners	7 May 1967	1 (1965)
Uganda	Group 4 winners	30 June 1967	1 (1962)
Congo-Brazzaville	Group 5 winners	17 September 1967	0 (debut)
Congo-Kinshasa	Group 6 winners	10 October 1967	1 (1965)
Senegal	Group 1 winners	22 November 1967	0 (debut)

Notes

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

Squads

Main article: 1968 African Cup of Nations squads

Venues

Addis Ababa	Addis Ababa Asmara
Hailé Sélassié Stadium
Capacity: 30,000
Asmara
Cicero Stadium
Capacity: 20,000

Group stage

Tiebreakers

If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking:

1. Goal difference in all group matches
2. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
3. Drawing of lots

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ethiopia (H)	3	3	0	0	6	2	+4	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Ivory Coast	3	2	0	1	5	2	+3	4
3	Algeria	3	1	0	2	5	6	−1	2
4	Uganda	3	0	0	3	2	8	−6	0

Source: ^[1][2]
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

12 January 1968

Ethiopia	2–1	Uganda
Asmerom Vassalo (pen.)		Ouma

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Kandil (Egypt)

12 January 1968

Ivory Coast	3–0	Algeria
Bozon 15' Pokou 25', 65'

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Guèye (Senegal)

---

14 January 1968

Ethiopia	1–0	Ivory Coast
Bekuretsion 86'

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Saleh (Sudan)

14 January 1968

Algeria	4–0	Uganda
Lalmas 15', 25', 70' Kalem 60'

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Mahombé (Congo-Kinshasa)

---

16 January 1968

Ivory Coast	2–1	Uganda
Pokou Manglé		Obua

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Lamptey (Ghana)

16 January 1968

Ethiopia	3–1	Algeria
Worku 16' Shewangizaw 19' Vassalo 27' (pen.)		Amirouche 68'

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Angaud (Congo-Brazzaville)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ghana	3	2	1	0	7	4	+3	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	Congo-Kinshasa	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	4
3	Senegal	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	3
4	Congo-Brazzaville	3	0	0	3	2	8	−6	0

Source: ^[1][3]
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

12 January 1968

Ghana	2–2	Senegal
Kofi 63' Mfum 87'		Diongue 10' Diop 65'

Cicero Stadium, Asmara

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: El-Attar (Egypt)

12 January 1968

Congo-Kinshasa	3–0	Congo-Brazzaville
Muwawa 19' Kabamba 27' (pen.), 51'

Cicero Stadium, Asmara

Attendance: 4,000

Referee: Khelifi (Algeria)

---

14 January 1968

Senegal	2–1	Congo-Brazzaville
Diop 27' Diouck 86'		Foutika 31'

Cicero Stadium, Asmara

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Rajab (Uganda)

14 January 1968

Ghana	2–1	Congo-Kinshasa
Kofi 17' (pen.) Mfum 84'		Mokili 42'

Cicero Stadium, Asmara

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Boua (Ivory Coast)

---

16 January 1968

Congo-Kinshasa	2–1	Senegal
Kidumu Tshimanga (pen.)		Diouck

Cicero Stadium, Asmara

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Tarekegn (Ethiopia)

16 January 1968

Ghana	3–1	Congo-Brazzaville
Kofi Mfum		M'Bono

Cicero Stadium, Asmara

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Awanda (Kenya)

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	19 January – Addis Ababa
	Ethiopia	2
					21 January – Addis Ababa
	Congo-Kinshasa (a.e.t.)	3
					Congo-Kinshasa	1
	19 January – Asmara
					Ghana	0
	Ghana (a.e.t.)	4
	Ivory Coast	3
					Third place
					21 January – Addis Ababa
					Ivory Coast	1
					Ethiopia	0

Semi-finals

19 January 1968

Ethiopia	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Congo-Kinshasa
Vassalo 25' Worku 65'		Kidumu 3' Mungamuni 16', 100'

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Kandil (Egypt)

---

19 January 1968

Ghana	4–3 [4]	Ivory Coast
Mfum Sunday Odoi	Report	Pokou Konan (pen.)

Cicero Stadium, Asmara

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: El Attar (Egypt)

Third place match

21 January 1968

Ivory Coast	1–0	Ethiopia
Pokou 28'

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Khelifi (Algeria)

Final

Main article: 1968 African Cup of Nations final

21 January 1968

Congo-Kinshasa	1–0	Ghana
Kalala 66'

Hailé Sélassié Stadium, Addis Ababa

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: El-Attar (Egypt)

Goalscorers

There were 52 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 3.25 goals per match.

6 goals

• Laurent Pokou

5 goals

• Wilberforce Mfum

4 goals

• Osei Kofi

3 goals

• Hacène Lalmas
• Luciano Vassalo

2 goals

• Jean "Jeannot" Foutika
• Nicodème Kabamba
• Kidumu Mantantu
• Léon Mungamuni
• Yatma Diop
• Yatma Diouck
• Mengistu Worku

1 goal

• Boualem Amirouche
• Mokhtar Kalem
• Ignace Muwawa
• Saio Ernest Mokili
• Pierre Kalala Mukendi
• Elias Tshimanga
• Jean-Louis Bozon
• Henri Konan
• Eustache Manglé
• Bekuretsion Gebrehiwot
• Shewangizaw Agonafer
• Girma Tekle
• Frank Odoi
• Ibrahim Sunday
• Doudou Diongue
• Denis Obua
• Polly Ouma

Team of the Tournament

Source:^[5]

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Kazadi Mwamba	Henri Konan Charles Addo Odametey Yérim Diagne Djibril Gueye	Luciano Vassallo Mengistu Worku Hacène Lalmas Joseph Bléziri	Laurent Pokou Doudou Diongue