1972 African Cup of Nations

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.

1972 African Cup of Nations

Coupe d'Afrique des Nations 1972
Tournament details
Host country	Cameroon
Dates	23 February – 5 March
Teams	8
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 played	16
Goals scored	53 (3.31 per match)
Attendance	425,000 (26,563 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Fantamady Keita (5 goals)
Best player(s)	François M'Pelé
← 1970 1974 →

Qualified teams

Main article: 1972 African Cup of Nations qualification

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

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament[a]
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

Main article: 1972 African Cup of Nations squads

Venues

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

Yaoundé	Yaoundé Douala
Stade Omnisports
Capacity: 38,720
Douala
Stade de la Réunification
Capacity: 30,000

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	Cameroon (H)	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	Mali	3	0	3	0	5	5	0	3
3	Kenya	3	0	2	1	3	4	−1	2
4	Togo	3	0	2	1	4	6	−2	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

23 February 1972

Cameroon	2–1	Kenya
N'Doga 7' N'Dongo 20'		Niva 44'

Stade Omnisports, Yaoundé

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: 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, Yaoundé

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Andre Bernard Ickias (Congo)

---

26 February 1972

Mali	1–1	Kenya
F. Keita 45'		Nicodémus 60'

Stade Omnisports, Yaoundé

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Pierre Mutombo (Zaire)

26 February 1972

Cameroon	2–0	Togo
Maya 64' Mvé 79'

Stade Omnisports, Yaoundé

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Babikr Eissa (Sudan)

---

28 February 1972

Togo	1–1	Kenya
Kaolo 60'		Pelé Ouma 30'

Stade Omnisports, Yaoundé

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Abdelkader Aouissi (Algeria)

28 February 1972

Cameroon	1–1	Mali
N'Doumbé 67'		F. Keita 43'

Stade Omnisports, Yaoundé

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Mostafa Kamel (Egypt)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Zaire	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2	4	Advance to knockout stage
2	Congo	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	3
3	Morocco	3	0	3	0	3	3	0	3
4	Sudan	3	0	2	1	4	6	−2	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

25 February 1972

Congo	1–1	Morocco
Moukila 45'		Faras 34'

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Alfred Olimba (Kenya)

25 February 1972

Zaire	1–1	Sudan
Mayanga 53'		Hasabu El-Sagheer 55'

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Sané Mady Diallo (Mali)

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27 February 1972

Morocco	1–1	Sudan
Faras 32'		Abdel-Nadief 49'

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Michael Wacka (Cameroon)

27 February 1972

Zaire	2–0	Congo
N'Tumba 16', 59'

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Théodore Laclé (Togo)

---

29 February 1972

Morocco	1–1	Zaire
Faras 36'		Mayanga 3'

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: 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, Douala

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: George Lamptey (Ghana)

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	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, Yaoundé

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: 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, Douala

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: 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, Yaoundé

Attendance: 4,000

Referee: George Lamptey (Ghana)

Final

Main article: 1972 African Cup of Nations Final

5 March 1972

Congo	3–2	Mali
M'Bono 57', 59' M'Pelé 63'		Diakhité 42' M. Traoré 75'

Stade Omnisports, Yaoundé

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Abdelkader Aouissi (Algeria)

Goalscorers

There were 53 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 3.31 goals per match.

5 goals

• Fantamady Keita

4 goals

• Jean-Michel M'Bono

3 goals

• Ahmed Faras
• Edmond Apéti Kaolo
• Mayanga Maku
• Jean Kalala N'Tumba

2 goals

• Jean-Baptiste N'Doga
• Paul-Gaston N'Dongo
• François M'Pelé
• Bako Touré
• Kakoko Etepé

1 goal

• Jean Paul Akono
• Simo Emmanuel Mvé
• François N'Doumbe
• Joseph Yegba Maya
• Philippe Michel Mouthé
• Norbert Owona
• Jonas Bahamboula
• Noël Birindi Minga
• Paul Moukila
• Daniel Arudhi Nicodémus
• Jonathan Niva
• Peter "Pelé" Ouma
• Adama Traoré
• Bakary Traoré
• Moussa Diakhité
• Moussa Traoré
• Bushara Abdel-Nadief
• Kamal Abdel Wahab
• Hasabu El-Sagheer
• Ahmed Bushara Wahba
• Covi Adé
• Gary Ngassebe

Team of the tournament

Source:^[1]

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Allal Ben Kassou	Mohamed El-Sir Abdalla Bwanga Tshimen Paul N'lend Boujemaa Benkhrif	Mayanga Maku Noël Minga-Tchibinda Paul-Gaston N'Dongo Jean-Pierre Tokoto	Kakoko Etepé François M'Pelé