The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the tournament, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt, from 20 January to 10 February.
The African Football Confederation, CAF, chose Egypt as the host of the 2006 Nations Cup finals. In balloting by 11 members of CAF's executive committee October 24, Egypt received seven votes, Libya two votes, and Algeria and Ivory Coast one each. CAF President Issa Hayatou of Cameroon announced Egypt as the winner.
This marked a record fourth time that Egypt staged the biennial African soccer showpiece. It also meant the next two African Cup of Nations finals were staged in north Africa, since Tunisia was the host in 2004. Mali was the venue for the 2002 Nations Cup.
The 2006 Nations Cup finals in Egypt were unique, in that the tournament also served as Africa's qualifying tournament for the World Cup, to be held later that year in Germany.
The president of the Egyptian Football Federation, Yousef El Dahshoury, said winning the Nations Cup was expected. He said Egypt had the best documents and the best facilities, and any other result would have been a shock.
Read also: 2006 World Cup Qualifying: Nigeria's Story
Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. The organization of the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was awarded to Egypt on 24 October 2002 by the CAF Executive Committee meeting in Cairo, Egypt.
Map of Africa showing the qualified nations, highlighted by stage reached.
Road to the Final
For the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, qualification was done through the CAF's qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Whereas only the winner of each group qualified for the World Cup, the top 3 finishers in each of the five qualification groups gained entry into the Africa Cup of Nations.
The exception was qualification group 3, which contained hosts Egypt. The draw for the final tournament took place on 20 October 2005 in Cairo. The 16 teams were split into four pots, with Pot 1 containing the top four seeded nations. Egypt, as hosts, were automatically seeded as the top team in Group A. Tunisia, the defending champions, were seeded as the top team in Group C.
Semi-Finals
After almost three weeks of competition, the finalists of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations were known with Cameroon to play Egypt on Sunday in Accra. Home fans were left devastated as the Indomitable Lions upset hosts Ghana 1-0 in their semi-final in Accra while the Pharaohs stunned fancied Côte d'Ivoire by a comprehensive 4-1 scoreline in Kumasi on Thursday.
Alain Nkong was something of an unknown quantity before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana, uncapped by Cameroon and playing his club football in Mexico. But the 28-year-old is now another scoring hero for rampant Cameroon with the decisive touch as they edged past the hosts in their semi-final at the Ohene Djan stadium.
His 72nd-minute finish came after a sublime bit of service from Samuel Eto'o, dashing the hopes of a near-capacity crowd. Ghana's injury and suspension crisis proved an insurmountable hurdle as their makeshift side struggled to create opportunities and left themselves open to counter-attacks by the Lions. Cameroon, who started the finals with a dreadful 2-4 loss, now find themselves in the championship match.
The repeat of the 2006 final was expected to be a chance for Côte d'Ivoire to extract some revenge over Egypt. Instead, the Pharaohs produced a stunning 4-1 win in Kumasi to keep up their hopes of retaining their African title.
Ahmed Fathi's shot in the 12th minute was deflected by Salomon Kalou past his own goalkeeper to give the North Africans a half-time lead, but the decisive blow came just after the hour mark when a header from Amr Zaki doubled the advantage. Straight from the kick-off, the Elephants pulled one back through Abdelkader Keita but another goal from Zaki restored the two-goal margin and set Egypt on their way to the final.
Côte d'Ivoire were stung by a second Egyptian goal to go down 2-0 but produced a stunning fight-back, albeit not enough of one to change the result. Aruna Dindane ran at the Egypt defence straight from the kick-off but found his path blocked. The ball then fell for Keita on the left side of Egypt's penalty area. He weighed his options briefly, lifted his head and burst inside the box before firing a missile past goalkeeper Essam Al Hadari. In the end, though, it proved in vain.
Striker Amr Zaki is occasionally derided for his lack of work rate, both in training and in games. The player from Cairo giants Zamalek is not the hardest worker but he is a consummate finisher. He proved it at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations finals and again in Kumasi with two crucial goals.
The Final: Egypt vs Cameroon
Egypt have won a record five Africa Cup of Nations and were seeking to claim their sixth. Cameroon were playing in their fifth final, having lost just one of their appearances in the continental championship decider. The pair were scheduled to play in Accra on Sunday.
Cameroon vs Togo - Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt 2006
Aftermath
Not since 2006, when Egypt were hosts, has the home team been able to win the tournament as Cameroon stretched the unsuccessful sequence to eight successive tournaments as they bowed out. In 2022 Cameroon added their name to an increasingly long list of hosts who have failed at the Africa Cup of Nations, eliminated at the semi-final stage on Thursday on post-match penalties.
Egypt beat them 3-1 on penalty kicks following a goalless draw after extra time, with coach Toni Conceicao admitting they had run out of steam and captain Vincent Aboubakar accusing his teammates of trying too much on their own.
"It's a big disappointment, in football, you reap what you sow. We have a big team and every time we play as a team, we win," Aboubakar said.
"In this game, everyone wanted to show what he was capable of and here is the pay off. Whenever we are collectively strong, we win but the moment everyone tries to do what they want, we miss out."
The coach felt the side had run out of steam, playing a sixth game in 26 days and on a heavy pitch which sapped at the players' energy levels.
"For 90 minutes the team played well and looked to score. We had some three to four chances without being able to score," said Conceicao.
"In the second half, we started to have imbalances in the game and suffered fatigue. My team tried, but Egypt managed to control our offensive abilities and countered them. That's why we were forced to penalties.
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