2020 African Nations Championship

The 2020 African Nations Championship, known as CHAN 2020 for short and the Total African Nations Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 6th edition of the biennial association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), featuring national teams consisting of players from their respective national leagues. It was held in Cameroon from 16 January to 7 February 2021.^[1]

2020 African Nations Championship

Championnat d'Afrique des Nations 2020 2020 CHAN / CHAN 2020
Tournament details
Host country	Cameroon
Dates	16 January – 7 February 2021
Teams	16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	4 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Morocco (2nd title)
Runners-up	Mali
Third place	Guinea
Fourth place	Cameroon
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	62 (1.94 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Soufiane Rahimi (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Soufiane Rahimi
Best young player	Morlaye Sylla
Best goalkeeper	Anas Zniti
Fair play award	Mali
← 2018 2022 →

Originally scheduled from 4 to 25 April 2020,^[2] CAF announced its postponement on 17 March 2020 to a later date due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa,^[3] eventually rescheduling it to January 2021 on 30 June that year.^[4]

Morocco defeated Mali in the final to successfully defend their title, thus joining DR Congo as the tournament's most successful nations as well as being the first team to win it back-to-back or twice in a row.

Host selection

Ethiopia were originally officially appointed to host the tournament on 4 February 2018 after the final of the previous edition in Morocco,^[5] but the country's football federation admitted it wasn't ready^[6] so it was handed over to Cameroon instead.^[7][8] Originally scheduled for January and February 2020,^[9] it was postponed to April 2020^[10] and then to January and February 2021.

After inspecting all stadia and infrastructure, CAF delivered a satisfactory certificate to Cameroon in which they indicated the percentage of attendance in line with health exigencies outlined by FIFA. Twenty five percent of spectators were admitted in the different stadia during the group stage of the competition and about 50% spectator increament the knock-out phases.^[11]

Qualification

Main article: 2020 African Nations Championship qualification

The qualification rounds took place in 2019. Djibouti and Gabon were banned as they withdrew during the qualification for the previous edition.^[12] The former, along with original hosts Ethiopia were later reinstated.^[13]

Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament:^[14]

Tunisia withdrew from the tournament despite qualification. CAF invited Libya, whom Tunisia defeated to qualify, and gave them a deadline of 28 January 2020 to decide whether or not to participate in place of Tunisia.^[15] Libya accepted the invitation^[16] and Tunisia were fined $75,000 and banned from participating in the qualification rounds of the next edition.^[17]

Team	Zone	Appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA ranking at start of event
Cameroon (hosts)	Central Zone	4th	Quarter-finals (2011, 2016)	50
Congo		3rd	Quarter-finals (2018)	91
DR Congo		5th	Champions (2009, 2016)	60
Rwanda	Central Eastern Zone	4th	Quarter-finals (2016)	133
Tanzania		2nd	Group stage (2009)	135
Uganda		5th	Group stage (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018)	79
Libya	Northern Zone	4th	Champions (2014)	111
Morocco		4th	Champions (2018)	35
Namibia	Southern Zone	2nd	Quarter-finals (2018)	119
Zambia		4th	Third place (2009)	90
Zimbabwe		5th	Fourth place (2014)	108
Guinea	Western Zone A	3rd	Fourth place (2016)	73
Mali		4th	Runners-up (2016)	57
Burkina Faso	Western Zone B	3rd	Group stage (2014, 2018)	58
Niger		3rd	Quarter-finals (2011)	113
Togo		1st	Debut	128

Venues

Matches were held in 4 venues across 3 cities: Yaoundé, Limbe and Douala. The fixtures were announced on 24 February 2020.^[18]

Yaounde Limbe Douala		Douala
		Japoma Stadium	Reunification Stadium
		Capacity: 50,000	Capacity: 30,000
		Yaounde	Limbe
		Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium	Limbe Stadium
		Capacity: 42,500	Capacity: 20,000

Squads

Main article: 2020 African Nations Championship squads

Each squad can contain a maximum of 23 players (Regulations Article 72).^[19]

Match officials

The following 43 match officials officiated during the 2020 African Nations Championship.^[20][21]

Referees

• Lahlou Benbraham
• George Gatogato
• Pacifique Ndabihawenimana
• Sidi Alioum
• Jean-Jacques Ndala
• Mahmoud El Banna (+ VAR)
• Mohamed Marouf
• (Ms) Lidya Tafesse
• Daniel Laryea
• Peter Waweru
• Andofetra Rakotojaona
• Adil Zourak (+ VAR)
• Boubou Traoré
• Beida Dahane (+ VAR)
• Ahmad Imtehaz Heeralall
• Samir Guezzaz
• Jean Claude Ishimwe
• Sadok Selmi

Assistant referees

• Jerson Dos Santos (+ AVAR)
• Elvis Noupue (+ AVAR)
• (Ms) Carine Atezambong Fomo
• Issa Yaya
• Liban Abdirazack Ahmed
• Oliver Safari
• Mahmoud Abouelregal (+ AVAR)
• Boris Ditsoga
• Abdul Aziz Jawo
• Gilbert Cheruiyot
• Attia Amsaaed
• Lionel Andrianantenaina
• (Ms) Bernadettar Kwimbira
• Mostafa Akarkad
• Zakaria Brinsi
• Abdoul Aziz Saley
• Mimisen Iyorhe
• Samuel Pwadutakam
• James Emile
• Mohammed Abdallah Ibrahim (+ AVAR)
• Kahalil Hassani (+ AVAR)
• Zakhele Siwela (+ AVAR)

Video assistant referees

• Bamlak Tessema Weyesa
• Bakary Gassama
• Haythem Guirat
• Janny Sikazwe

Draw

The draw of this edition of the tournament was held at the Polyvalent Sports Center of Yaoundé in Yaoundé on 17 February 2020 at 19:00 WAT (UTC+1).^[22][23][24] The 16 teams were drawn into 4 groups of 4 and were allocated into 4 pots, with the hosts Cameroon seeded in position A1 of Group A1 and the defending champions Morocco seeded in position C1 of Group C.^[25]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Cameroon (hosts; position A1)  Morocco (holders; position C1)  Libya  Zambia	DR Congo  Guinea  Mali  Rwanda	Uganda  Congo  Namibia  Burkina Faso	Zimbabwe  Niger  Togo  Tanzania

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advance to the quarter-finals.

Tiebreakers

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 74):^[19]

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Drawing of lots.

All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).^[26]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mali	3	2	1	0	3	1	+2	7	Knockout stage
2	Cameroon (H)	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
3	Burkina Faso	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
4	Zimbabwe	3	0	0	3	1	5	−4	0

Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

16 January 2021 (2021-01-16)

17:00

Cameroon	1–0	Zimbabwe
Banga 72'	Report

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala (DR Congo)

16 January 2021 (2021-01-16)

20:00

Mali	1–0	Burkina Faso
Bagayoko 70'	Report

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Mohamed Marouf (Egypt)

---

20 January 2021 (2021-01-20)

17:00

Cameroon	1–1	Mali
Banga 6'	Report	Samaké 12'

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Pacifque Ndabihawenimana (Burundi)

20 January 2021 (2021-01-20)

20:00

Burkina Faso	3–1	Zimbabwe
Sosso 14' Kiendrébéogo 53' Ouedraogo 67'	Report	Jaure 23'

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Mahmoud El Banna (Egypt)

---

24 January 2021 (2021-01-24)

20:00

Burkina Faso	0–0	Cameroon
	Report

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Sadok Selmi (Tunisia)

24 January 2021 (2021-01-24)

20:00

Zimbabwe	0–1	Mali
	Report	Diallo 11'

Japoma Stadium, Douala

Referee: Beida Dahane (Mauritania)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	DR Congo	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7	Knockout stage
2	Congo	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
3	Niger	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
4	Libya	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2

Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

17 January 2021 (2021-01-17)

17:00

Libya	0–0	Niger
	Report

Japoma Stadium, Douala

Referee: Daniel Laryea (Ghana)

17 January 2021 (2021-01-17)

20:00

DR Congo	1–0	Congo
Kubanza 47'	Report

Japoma Stadium, Douala

Referee: Samir Guezzaz (Morocco)

---

21 January 2021 (2021-01-21)

17:00

Libya	1–1	DR Congo
Al-Mehdi 6'	Report	Obenza 90+4'

Japoma Stadium, Douala

Referee: Boubou Traore (Mali)

21 January 2021 (2021-01-21)

20:00

Congo	1–1	Niger
Mouandza 35'	Report	Moussa 70' (pen.)

Japoma Stadium, Douala

Referee: Peter Waweru (Kenya)

---

25 January 2021 (2021-01-25)

20:00

Congo	1–0	Libya
Ngouonimba 50'	Report

Japoma Stadium, Douala

Referee: Sidi Alioum (Cameroon)

25 January 2021 (2021-01-25)

20:00

Niger	1–2	DR Congo
Moussa 73'	Report	Kabangu 27' Obenza 90+1'

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Lahlou Benbraham (Algeria)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Morocco	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	7	Knockout stage
2	Rwanda	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1	5
3	Togo	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
4	Uganda	3	0	1	2	3	7	−4	1

Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

18 January 2021 (2021-01-18)

17:00

Morocco	1–0	Togo
Jabrane 27' (pen.)	Report

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Referee: Andofetra Rakotojaona (Madagascar)

18 January 2021 (2021-01-18)

20:00

Rwanda	0–0	Uganda
	Report

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Referee: Beida Dahane (Mauritania)

---

22 January 2021 (2021-01-22)

17:00

Morocco	0–0	Rwanda
	Report

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Referee: Ahmad Heeralall (Mauritius)

22 January 2021 (2021-01-22)

20:00

Uganda	1–2	Togo
Kyeyune 51'	Report	Mbowa 48' (o.g.) Nane 57'

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Referee: Georges Gatogato (Burundi)

---

26 January 2021 (2021-01-26)

20:00

Uganda	2–5	Morocco
Orit 25' Kyeyune 84'	Report	El Kaabi 45+4' (pen.) Rahimi 51', 80' El Moussaoui 71' Lukwago 90+2' (o.g.)

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Referee: Boubou Traore (Mali)

26 January 2021 (2021-01-26)

20:00

Togo	2–3	Rwanda
Nane 38' Akoro 58'	Report	Niyonzima 45+1' Tuyisenge 60' Sugira 66'

Limbe Stadium, Limbe

Referee: Mohamed Maarouf Eid Mansour (Egypt)

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Guinea	3	1	2	0	6	3	+3	5	Knockout stage
2	Zambia	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	5
3	Tanzania	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	4
4	Namibia	3	0	1	2	0	4	−4	1

Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

19 January 2021 (2021-01-19)

17:00

Zambia	2–0	Tanzania
Sikombe 64' (pen.) Chabula 81'	Report

Limbe Stadium, Limbe

Referee: Lahlou Benbraham (Algeria)

19 January 2021 (2021-01-19)

20:00

Guinea	3–0	Namibia
Barry 13', 86' Sylla 45+2'	Report

Limbe Stadium, Limbe

Referee: Jean Claude Ishimwe (Rwanda)

---

23 January 2021 (2021-01-23)

17:00

Zambia	1–1	Guinea
Sautu 87'	Report	Kantabadouno 58'

Limbe Stadium, Limbe

Referee: Adil Zourak (Morocco)

23 January 2021 (2021-01-23)

20:00

Namibia	0–1	Tanzania
	Report	Mussa 65'

Limbe Stadium, Limbe

Referee: Lidya Tafesse (Ethiopia)

---

27 January 2021 (2021-01-27)

20:00

Namibia	0–0	Zambia
	Report

Limbe Stadium, Limbe

Referee: Andofetra Rakotojaona (Madagascar)

27 January 2021 (2021-01-27)

20:00

Tanzania	2–2	Guinea
Majogoro 23' Manyama 69'	Report	Barry 4' (pen.) Kantabadouno 82'

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Referee: Georges Gatogato (Burundi)

Knockout stages

In the knockout stages, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary, except for the third place match where penalty shoot-out (no extra time) is used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 75).^[19]

Bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	30 January – Yaoundé
	Mali (p)	0 (5)
					3 February – Douala (Japoma)
	Congo	0 (4)
					Mali (p)	0 (5)
	31 January – Limbe
					Guinea	0 (4)
	Guinea	1
									7 February – Yaoundé
	Rwanda	0
									Mali	0
	31 January – Douala (Réunification)
									Morocco	2
	Morocco	3
					3 February – Limbe
	Zambia	1
					Morocco	4
	30 January – Douala (Japoma)
					Cameroon	0			Third place match
	DR Congo	1
									6 February – Douala (Réunification)
	Cameroon	2
									Guinea	2
									Cameroon	0

Quarter-finals

30 January 2021 (2021-01-30)

17:00

Mali	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Congo
	Report
Penalties
Samake Kyabou Samabali Doumba Coulibaly	5–4	Mapata Ondongo Binguila Mokombo Ndzila

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Peter Waweru (Kenya)

---

30 January 2021 (2021-01-30)

20:00

DR Congo	1–2	Cameroon
Lilepo 22'	Report	N'Djeng 29' Oukiné 42'

Japoma Stadium, Douala

Referee: Mohamed Maarouf Eid Mansour (Egypt)

---

31 January 2021 (2021-01-31)

17:00

Morocco	3–1	Zambia
Rahimi 1' Ali Bemammer 8' El Kaabi 39' (pen.)	Report	Phiri 80'

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Referee: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana (Burundi)

---

31 January 2021 (2021-01-31)

20:00

Guinea	1–0	Rwanda
Sylla 60'	Report

Limbe Stadium, Limbe

Referee: Samir Guezzaz (Morocco)

Semi-finals

3 February 2021 (2021-02-03)

16:00

Mali	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Guinea
	Report
Penalties
Samake Kyabou Samabali Kanoute Coulibaly	5–4	Barry Camara Camara Bangoura Sylla

Japoma Stadium, Douala

Referee: Mahmoud El Banna (Egypt)

---

3 February 2021 (2021-02-03)

20:00

Morocco	4–0	Cameroon
Bouftini 29' Rahimi 40', 74' Ali Bemammer 82'	Report

Limbe Stadium, Limbe

Referee: Jean Ngambo (DR Congo)

Third place match

6 February 2021 (2021-02-06)

20:00

Guinea	2–0	Cameroon
Sylla 9' Bangoura 45+1'	Report

Stade de la Réunification, Douala

Referee: Lahlou Benbraham (Algeria)

Final

Main article: 2020 African Nations Championship Final

7 February 2021 (2021-02-07)

20:00

Mali	0–2	Morocco
	Report	Bouftini 68' El Kaabi 79'

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Referee: Peter Waweru (Kenya)

Goalscorers

There were 62 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 1.94 goals per match.

5 goals

• Soufiane Rahimi

3 goals

• Ayoub El Kaabi
• Yakhouba Gnagna Barry
• Morlaye Sylla

2 goals

• Soufiane Bouftini
• Mohammed Ali Bemammer
• Salomon Charles Banga
• Masasi Obenza
• Victor Kantabadouno
• Mossi Issa Moussa
• Richard Nane
• Saidi Kyeyune

1 goal

• Hamza El Moussaoui
• Yahya Jabrane
• Claver Kiendrébéogo
• Issiaka Ouedraogo
• Issouf Sosso
• Yannick N'Djeng
• Félix Oukiné
• Mapata Mouandza
• Gautrand Ngouonimba
• Kadima Kabangu
• Chico Kubanza
• Makabi Lilepo
• Mamadouba Bangoura
• Moataz Al-Mehdi
• Siaka Bagayoko
• Demba Diallo
• Issaka Samaké
• Olivier Niyonzima
• Ernest Sugira
• Jacques Tuyisenge
• Baraka Majogoro
• Edward Charles Manyama
• Faridi Mussa
• Bilali Akoro
• Ibrahim Orit
• Emmanuel Chabula
• Moses Phiri
• Spencer Sautu
• Collins Sikombe
• Partson Jaure

1 own goal

• Charles Lukwago (against Morocco)
• Paul Mbowa (against Togo)

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:

Total Man of the Competition
Soufiane Rahimi[27]
Top Scorer
Soufiane Rahimi (5 goals)[27]
Best Goalkeeper
Anas Zniti
Best Young Player
Morlaye Sylla[28]
Best Coach
Hussein Ammouta ( Morocco)[28]
CAF Fair Play Team
Mali

Team of the Tournament

^[28]

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Anas Zniti	Issaka Samake Yacouba Doumbia Abdelmounaim Boutouil Hamza El Moussaoui	Yahya Jabrane Sadio Kanoute Morlaye Sylla	Yakhouba Gnagna Barry Ayoub El Kaabi Soufiane Rahimi

Man of the match

Stage	Team 1	Result	Team 2	Man of the Match
Group stage matches
Group A	Cameroon	1–0	Zimbabwe	Ako Assomo
	Mali	1–0	Burkina Faso	Ibourahima Sidibe
Group B	Libya	0–0	Niger	Abdoul Moumouni
	DR Congo	1–0	Congo	Henock Inonga Baka
Group C	Morocco	1–0	Togo	Soufiane Rahimi
	Rwanda	0–0	Uganda	Fitina Omborenga
Group D	Zambia	2–0	Tanzania	Collins Sikombe
	Guinea	3–0	Namibia	Morlaye Sylla
Group A	Cameroon	1–1	Mali	Moussa Kyabou
	Burkina Faso	3–1	Zimbabwe	Ismahila Ouédraogo
Group B	Libya	1–1	DR Congo	Abdullah Abdulrahman
	Congo	1–1	Niger	Mick Itali Ossete
Group C	Morocco	0–0	Rwanda	Abdelkrim Baadi
	Uganda	1–2	Togo	Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro
Group D	Zambia	1–1	Guinea	Morlaye Sylla
	Namibia	0–1	Tanzania	Faridi Mussa
Group A	Burkina Faso	0–0	Cameroon	Hamed Belem
	Zimbabwe	0–1	Mali	Mussa Ballo
Group B	Congo	1–0	Libya	Hardy Binguila
	Niger	1–2	DR Congo	Ibrahim Issa
Group C	Uganda	2–5	Morocco	Soufiane Rahimi
	Togo	2–3	Rwanda	Jacques Tuyisenge
Group D	Namibia	0–0	Zambia	Collins Sikombe
	Tanzania	2–2	Guinea	Victor Kantabadouno
Knockout stage matches
Quarter-finals	Mali	0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	Congo	Sadio Kanoute
	DR Congo	1–2	Cameroon	Ako Assomo
	Morocco	3–1	Zambia	Mohammed Ali Bemammer
	Guinea	1–0	Rwanda	Morlaye Sylla
Semi-finals	Mali	0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	Guinea	Sadio Kanoute
	Morocco	4–0	Cameroon	Soufiane Rahimi
Third place match	Guinea	2–0	Cameroon	Morlaye Sylla
Final	Mali	0–2	Morocco	Anas Zniti

Tournament team rankings

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final result
1	Morocco	6	5	1	0	15	3	+12	16	Champions
2	Mali	6	2	3	1	3	3	0	9	Runners-up
3	Guinea	6	3	3	0	9	3	+6	12	Third place
4	Cameroon (H)	6	2	2	2	4	8	−4	8	Fourth place
5	DR Congo	4	2	1	1	5	4	+1	7	Eliminated in quarter-finals
6	Zambia	4	1	2	1	4	4	0	5
7	Rwanda	4	1	2	1	3	3	0	5
8	Congo	4	1	2	1	2	2	0	5
9	Burkina Faso	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4	Eliminated in group stage
10	Tanzania	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	4
11	Togo	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
12	Niger	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
13	Libya	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2
14	Uganda	3	0	1	2	3	7	−4	1
15	Namibia	3	0	1	2	0	4	−4	1
16	Zimbabwe	3	0	0	3	1	5	−4	0

Source: CAF
(H) Hosts