1988 African Cup of Nations

The 1988 African Cup of Nations was the 16th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (CAF). It was hosted by Morocco, who replaced original host Zambia. Just like in 1986, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. The tournament final was held in Casablanca at Stade Mohamed V. Cameroon won its second championship, beating Nigeria in the final 1−0.

1988 African Cup of Nations

1988 كأس أمم إفريقيا Coupe d'Afrique des Nations 1988
Tournament details
Host country	Morocco
Dates	13–27 March
Teams	8
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Cameroon (2nd title)
Runners-up	Nigeria
Third place	Algeria
Fourth place	Morocco
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	23 (1.44 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Lakhdar Belloumi Roger Milla Gamal Abdelhamid Abdoulaye Traoré (2 goals each)
Best player(s)	Roger Milla
Best goalkeeper	Joseph-Antoine Bell
← 1986 1990 →

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

Host selection

The original host was Zambia but after their withdrawal in December 1986 due to financial issues, the Confederation of African Football approached Algeria which agreed to host the tournament. However, in February 1987 the CAF rescinded this decision following a dispute with Algeria which protested the CAF's decision to order a replay of the first leg match of the 1987 All-Africa Games qualification against Tunisia. CAF had made this decision following Tunisia's protest that Algeria had fielded two professional players. Morocco was chosen in the end to host the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations replacing Algeria.^{[1] [2]}

Qualified teams

Main article: 1988 African Cup of Nations qualification

The 8 qualified teams are:

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament[a]
Morocco	Hosts		5 (1972, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1986)
Egypt	Holders	21 March 1986	10 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1970, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1986)
Algeria	2nd round winners	14 April 1987	5 (1968, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986)
Cameroon	2nd round winners	18 July 1987	5 (1970, 1972, 1982, 1984, 1986)
Kenya	2nd round winners	18 July 1987	1 (1972)
Nigeria	2nd round winners	18 July 1987	6 (1963, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984)
Ivory Coast	2nd round winners	19 July 1987	7 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1984, 1986)
Zaire	2nd round winners	19 July 1987	6 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976)

Notes

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

Squads

Main article: 1988 African Cup of Nations squads

Venues

The competition was played in two venues in Casablanca and Rabat.

Casablanca	Casablanca Rabat
Stade Mohamed V
Capacity: 80,000
Rabat
Stade Moulay Abdellah
Capacity: 52,000

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	Morocco (H)	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	4	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Algeria	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	3
3	Ivory Coast	3	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
4	Zaire	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2

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

13 March 1988

Morocco	1–1	Zaire
Merry 43' (pen.)	Report	Lutonadio 88'

Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca

Attendance: 80,000

Referee: Gebreyesus Tesfaye (Ethiopia)

---

13 March 1988

Ivory Coast	1–1	Algeria
A. Traoré 48'	Report	Belloumi 16'

Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Eganaden Cadressen (Mauritius)

---

16 March 1988

Ivory Coast	1–1	Zaire
A. Traoré 74'	Report	Kabongo 37'

Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Ali Bennaceur (Tunisia)

---

16 March 1988

Morocco	1–0	Algeria
El Haddaoui 52'	Report

Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca

Attendance: 78,000

Referee: Idrissa Sarr (Mauritania)

---

19 March 1988

Algeria	1–0	Zaire
Ferhaoui 36'	Report

Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca

Attendance: 75,000

Referee: Hugues Joseph Mongbo (Benin)

---

19 March 1988

Morocco	0–0	Ivory Coast
	Report

Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca

Attendance: 80,000

Referee: Ally Hafidhi (Tanzania)

Note: Algeria qualified by drawing of lots.^[3]

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nigeria	3	1	2	0	4	1	+3	4	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Cameroon	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	4
3	Egypt	3	1	1	1	3	1	+2	3
4	Kenya	3	0	1	2	0	6	−6	1

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

14 March 1988

Cameroon	1–0	Egypt
Milla 5'	Report

Stade Moulay Abdellah, Rabat

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Idrissa Traoré (Mali)

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14 March 1988

Nigeria	3–0	Kenya
Yekini 6' Edobor 13' Okosieme 33'	Report

Stade Moulay Abdellah, Rabat

Attendance: 4,000

Referee: Badara Sène (Senegal)

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17 March 1988

Cameroon	1–1	Nigeria
Milla 21'	Report	Okwaraji 6'

Stade Moulay Abdellah, Rabat

Attendance: 13,000

Referee: Bester Kalombo (Malawi)

---

17 March 1988

Egypt	3–0	Kenya
Abdelhamid 2', 65' Younes 58'	Report

Stade Moulay Abdellah, Rabat

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Simon Bantsimba (Congo)

---

20 March 1988

Cameroon	0–0	Kenya
	Report

Stade Moulay Abdellah, Rabat

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Badou Jasseh (Gambia)

---

20 March 1988

Nigeria	0–0	Egypt
	Report

Stade Moulay Abdellah, Rabat

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Ali Bangoura (Guinea)

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	23 March – Rabat
	Nigeria (p)	1 (9)
					27 March – Casablanca
	Algeria	1 (8)
					Nigeria	0
	23 March – Casablanca
					Cameroon	1
	Morocco	0
	Cameroon	1
					Third place
					26 March – Casablanca
					Algeria (p)	1 (4)
					Morocco	1 (3)

Semifinals

23 March 1988

Nigeria	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Algeria
Belgharbi 36' (o.g.)	Report	Maâtar 86'
Penalties
Eguavoen Odu Uwe Sofoluwe Yekini Okwaraji Nwosu Omokaro Okafor Rufai Eguavoen	9–8	Belloumi Belgherbi Maâtar Yahi Menad Bouafia Medane Chaib Megharia Drid Belloumi

Stade Moulay Abdellah, Rabat

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Badara Sène (Senegal)

---

23 March 1988

Morocco	0–1	Cameroon
	Report	Makanaky 78'

Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Eganaden Cadressen (Mauritius)

Third place match

26 March 1988

Morocco	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Algeria
Nader 67'	Report	Belloumi 87'
Penalties
El Gharef Benabicha Ouadani El Maataoui Timoumi Nader	3–4	Yahi Djahmoune Merzekane Chaib Megharia Belgherbi

Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Ally Hafidhi (Tanzania)

Final

Main article: 1988 African Cup of Nations Final

27 March 1988

Cameroon	1–0	Nigeria
Kundé 55' (pen.)	Report

Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Idrissa Sarr (Mauritania)

Goalscorers

There were 23 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 1.44 goals per match.

2 goals

• Lakhdar Belloumi
• Roger Milla
• Abdoulaye Traoré
• Gamal Abdelhamid

1 goal

• Abdelkader Ferhaoui
• Rachid Maâtar
• Emmanuel Kundé
• Cyrille Makanaky
• Ayman Younes
• Mustafa El Haddaoui
• Abdelkrim Merry
• Hassan Nader
• Humphrey Edobor
• Ndubuisi Okosieme
• Samuel Okwaraji
• Rashidi Yekini
• Eugène Kabongo
• Lutonadio

1 own goal

• Abderrazak Belgherbi (against Nigeria)

CAF Team of the Tournament

Goalkeeper

• Joseph-Antoine Bell

Defenders

• Tijani El Maataoui
• Emmanuel Kundé
• John Buana
• Stephen Tataw

Midfielders

• Jacques Kinkomba Kingambo
• Emile Mbouh
• Henry Nwosu
• Paul Mfede

Forwards

• Roger Milla
• Aziz Bouderbala