1982 African Cup of Nations

The 1982 African Cup of Nations was the 13th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of African nations run by the CAF. It was hosted by Libya. Just like in 1980, there were eight teams, which were split into two groups of four. Ghana won its fourth championship, beating Libya on penalties 7−6 after a 1–1 draw.^[1]

1982 African Cup of Nations

كأس أمم إفريقيا 1982
ACN 1982 official logo
Tournament details
Host country	Libya
Dates	5–19 March
Teams	8
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Ghana (4th title)
Runners-up	Libya
Third place	Zambia
Fourth place	Algeria
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	32 (2 per match)
Top scorer(s)	George Alhassan (4 goals)
Best player(s)	Fawzi Al-Issawi
← 1980 1984 →

Qualified teams

Main article: 1982 African Cup of Nations qualification

The 8 qualified teams are:

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament[a]
Libya	Hosts		0 (debut)
Nigeria	Holders	22 March 1980	4 (1963, 1976, 1978, 1980)
Ghana	2nd round winners	2 August 1981	6 (1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1978, 1980)
Cameroon	2nd round winners	30 August 1981	2 (1970, 1972)
Zambia	2nd round winners	30 August 1981	2 (1974, 1978)
Algeria	2nd round winners	20 September 1981	2 (1968, 1980)
Ethiopia	2nd round winners	4 October 1981	8 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1976)
Tunisia	2nd round winners	1981	4 (1962, 1963, 1965, 1978)

Notes

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

Squads

Main article: 1982 African Cup of Nations squads

Venues

The competition was played in two venues in Tripoli and Benghazi.

Tripoli Benghazi	Tripoli
	11 June Stadium
	Capacity: 88,000
	Benghazi
	28 March Stadium
	Capacity: 55,000

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	Libya (H)	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2	4	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Ghana	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1	4
3	Cameroon	3	0	3	0	1	1	0	3
4	Tunisia	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

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

5 March 1982

Libya	2–2	Ghana
Jaranah 58' Al-Issawi 76'	Report	Alhassan 28' Opoku Nti 89'

11 June Stadium, Tripoli

Attendance: 45,200

Referee: Sohan Ramlochun (Mauritius)

5 March 1982

Cameroon	1–1	Tunisia
M'Bida 61'	Report	Gabsi 60'

11 June Stadium, Tripoli

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Bakary Sarr (Senegal)

---

9 March 1982

Cameroon	0–0	Ghana
	Report

11 June Stadium, Tripoli

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Mohamed Larache (Morocco)

9 March 1982

Libya	2–0	Tunisia
Seddik 42' (o.g.) Al-Bor'osi 89'	Report

11 June Stadium, Tripoli

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Kambaji Kabongo (Zaire)

---

12 March 1982

Ghana	1–0	Tunisia
John Ebow Essien 28'	Report

11 June Stadium, Tripoli

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Idrissa Traoré (Mali)

12 March 1982

Libya	0–0	Cameroon
	Report

11 June Stadium, Tripoli

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Babacar Fall (Senegal)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Algeria	3	2	1	0	3	1	+2	5	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Zambia	3	2	0	1	4	1	+3	4
3	Nigeria	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	2
4	Ethiopia	3	0	1	2	0	4	−4	1

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

7 March 1982

Nigeria	3–0	Ethiopia
Keshi 27', 84' Adeshina 40'	Report

28 March Stadium, Benghazi

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Bester Kalombo (Malawi)

7 March 1982

Algeria	1–0	Zambia
Merzekane 85'	Report

28 March Stadium, Benghazi

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Dodou N'Jie (Gambia)

---

10 March 1982

Zambia	1–0	Ethiopia
Munshya 68'	Report

28 March Stadium, Benghazi

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Bashir Mahamed Jama

10 March 1982

Algeria	2–1	Nigeria
Isima 44' (o.g.) Assad 65'	Report	Osigwe 40'

28 March Stadium, Benghazi

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Cheikh Djibril MBaye (Senegal)

---

13 March 1982

Algeria	0–0	Ethiopia
	Report

28 March Stadium, Benghazi

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Hugues Opangault

13 March 1982

Zambia	3–0	Nigeria
Kaumba 25' Njovu 80' Fregene 81' (o.g.)	Report

28 March Stadium, Benghazi

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Edwin Picon-Ackong (Mauritius)

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	16 March – Benghazi
	Ghana (a.e.t.)	3
					19 March – Tripoli
	Algeria	2
					Ghana (pen.)	1 (7)
	16 March – Tripoli
					Libya	1 (6)
	Libya	2
	Zambia	1
					Third place
					18 March – Tripoli
					Algeria	0
					Zambia	2

Semifinals

16 March 1982

Ghana	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Algeria
Alhassan 4', 103' Opoku Nti 90'	Report	Zidane 29' Assad 62'

28 March Stadium, Benghazi

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Bester Kalombo (Malawi)

---

16 March 1982

Libya	2–1	Zambia
Al-Beshari 38', 84'	Report	29' Kaumba

11 June Stadium, Tripoli

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Bakary Sarr (Senegal)

Third place match

18 March 1982

Zambia	2–0	Algeria
Kaumba 2' Munshya 25'	Report

11 June Stadium, Tripoli

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Cheikh Djibril MBaye (Senegal)

Final

Main article: 1982 African Cup of Nations Final

19 March 1982

Ghana	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Libya
Alhassan 35'	Report	Al-Beshari 70'
Penalties
Lamptey Alhassan Paha Asaase Abbrey Mensah Quarshie Afriyie	7–6	Al-Beshari Sola Al-Ajeli Ben-Suleiman Al-Farjani Ghonaïm Jaranah Zeiyu

11 June Stadium, Tripoli

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Sohan Ramlochun (Mauritius)

Goalscorers

There were 32 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 2 goals per match.

4 goals

• George Alhassan

3 goals

• Ali Al-Beshari
• Peter Kaumba

2 goals

• Salah Assad
• Samuel Opoku Nti
• Stephen Keshi
• Godfrey Munshya

1 goal

• Chaabane Merzekane
• Djamel Zidane
• Grégoire Mbida
• John Essien
• Faraj Al-Barasi
• Fawzi Al-Issawi
• Abdel Razak Jaranah
• Ademola Adeshina
• Emmanuel Osigwe
• Aaron Njovu
• Kamel Gabsi

1 own goal

• Peter Fregene (against Zambia)
• Okey Isima (against Algeria)
• Kamel Seddik (against Libya)

CAF Team of the Tournament

Goalkeepers	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Thomas Nkono	Chaabane Merzekane Sampson Lamptey Haruna Yusif Ali Al-Beshari	George Alhassan Samuel Opoku Nti Emmanuel Quarshie Fawzi Al-Issawi	Salah Assad Rabah Madjer