1994 African Cup of Nations

The 1994 African Cup of Nations, known as the Nescafé 1994 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, was the 19th edition of the African Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championship of Africa organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament was played between 26 March and 10 April 1994 in Tunisia, replacing original hosts Zaire and taking place in the country for the second time following the 1965 edition. The Zambian team was notably recently formed, following an air disaster in which eighteen players and several staff members of the previous team had been killed. The defending champions were the Ivory Coast, having won the 1992 edition. As title holders, they alongside host country Tunisia automatically qualified for the final phase of the tournament. As in the 1992 edition, twelve teams, divided into four groups each comprising three teams, took part in the competition. Hosts Tunisia would be eliminated in the group stage, while defending champions Ivory Coast were eliminated in the semi-finals after losing on penalties to Nigeria. Nigeria won the title for the second time in their history, defeating Zambia 2–1 in the final. The Ivory Coast secured third place after beating Mali in the bronze medal match, which placed them fourth. Nigerian Rashidi Yekini won the top scorer award with five goals, and was also named player of the tournament. As winners, Nigeria qualified for the 1995 King Fahd Cup in Saudi Arabia, as a representative of the African continent. == Teams == Ten spots were distributed to the 37 countries participating in qualification. Tunisia, the tournament hosts, and the Ivory Coast, the defending champions, were exempt from the qualifying tournament. After a preliminary round played in two-way matches involving four teams (two qualified for the main round), the teams were divided into eight groups of four. The winners of each group, as well as the second-placed teams in groups of five or six, qualified for the final tournament in Tunisia. In addition to the withdrawals during the qualifying competition of Togo, Chad, Tanzania and Burkina Faso, the teams of Mauritania and Libya, which initially registered, withdrew before the start of qualification. Cape Verde notably made their debut in official international competition, being eliminated in the preliminary round, and this was also the first participation by South Africa since being banned from world football due to the establishment of apartheid. The end of South Africa's segregationist policy allowed the reintegration of Bafana Bafana into the CAF. === Qualified teams === The following twelve teams qualified for the final tournament. Notes == Squads == == Venues == == 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: Greatest total goal difference in the three group matches Greatest number of goals scored in the three group matches Most points earned in matches against other teams in the tie Greatest goal difference in matches against other teams in the tie Greatest number of goals scored in matches against other teams in the tie Drawing of lots === Group A === === Group B === === Group C === === Group D === == Knockout stage == === Bracket === === Quarter-finals === === Semi-finals === === Third place match === === Final === == Goalscorers == There were 44 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 2.2 goals per match. 5 goals 4 goals 2 goals 1 goal == Team of the Tournament == Goalkeeper Ahmed Shobair Defenders Frank Amankwah Harrison Chongo Elijah Litana Benedict Iroha Midfielders Serge-Alain Maguy Jay-Jay Okocha Daniel Amokachi Abedi Pele Forwards Joël Tiéhi Rashidi Yekini == External links == Details at RSSSF Details at www.angelfire.com