2018 African Nations Championship

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2018 African Nations Championship
  • 2018 CHAN
  • 2018 بطولة امم افريقيا
Tournament details
Host countryMorocco
Dates13 January – 4 February
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Morocco (1st title)
Runners-up Nigeria
Third place Sudan
Fourth place Libya
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored58 (1.81 per match)
Top scorer(s) Ayoub El Kaabi (9 goals)
Best player(s) Ayoub El Kaabi
Fair play award Morocco
2016
2020

The 2018 African Nations Championship, known as the 2018 CHAN for short and for sponsorship purposes as the Total African Nations Championship, was the 5th edition of the biennial association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) featuring players from their respective national leagues. Originally supposed to be hosted in Kenya,[1][2] it was instead hosted by Morocco from 13 January to 4 February 2018.

The 2016 finalists, DR Congo and Mali, failed to qualify for this edition following their qualification losses, Mali losing 3–2 to Mauritania on aggregate and DR Congo losing to the neighbouring Congo via the away goals rule. Hosts Morocco defeated Nigeria 4–0 in the final to win their first title which made Morocco the first team to win the tournament on home soil.[3][4][5]

Host selection

Following the conclusion of the final of the previous edition in Rwanda on 7 February 2016, CAF announced Kenya as the host nation of the next edition 48 hours later.[1][2][6] However, CAF decided to change the host nation on 23 September the following year due to a lack of progress with preparations[7] and open up a new tender process for a replacement team with the deadline of 30 September 2017. The countries who submitted to replace Kenya as hosts are:[8]

The Ethiopian Football Federation did not provide the government's letter of guarantee and were not considered; the CAF Emergency Committee decided on 15 October that year to choose Morocco over Equatorial Guinea.[9][10]

Qualification

The qualification rounds took place from 20 April to 20 August 2017.[11]

Since Morocco had already qualified in the Northern Zone before replacing Kenya as hosts, their spot in the main phase was re-allocated to their opponents in the Northern Zone final qualifying round, Egypt.[12] However, Egypt declined to participate citing a "congested domestic calendar".[13] As a result, the spot was reverted to Central-East Zone (as originally three teams would participate including original-turned-stripped hosts Kenya), and would go to the winner of a play-off in November 2017 between Ethiopia and Rwanda, the two teams which lost in the Central-East Zone final qualifying round.[14]

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the group stage of this edition of the tournament:

Team Zone Appearance Previous best performance FIFA ranking
at start of event
 Cameroon Central Zone 3rd Quarter-finals (2011, 2016) 45
 Congo 2nd Group stage (2014) 96
 Equatorial Guinea 1st Debut 146
 Rwanda Central-East Zone 3rd Quarter-finals (2016) 113
 Sudan 2nd Third place (2011) 136
 Uganda 4th Group stage (2011, 2014, 2016) 75
 Libya North Zone 3rd Champions (2014) 88
 Morocco (hosts) 3rd Quarter-finals (2014) 40
 Angola South Zone 3rd Runners-up (2011) 141
 Namibia 1st Debut 118
 Zambia 3rd Third place (2009) 74
 Guinea West A Zone 2nd Fourth place (2016) 65
 Mauritania 2nd Group stage (2014) 99
 Burkina Faso West B Zone 2nd Group stage (2014) 44
 Ivory Coast 4th Third place (2016) 61
 Nigeria 3rd Third place (2014) 51

Venues

This edition of the tournament had matches held in Casablanca, Marrakech, Agadir and Tangier.

Casablanca Marrakesh
Stade Mohamed V Stade de Marrakech
Capacity: 45,600 Capacity: 45,240
Tangier Agadir
Ibn Batouta Stadium Stade Adrar
Capacity: 45,000 Capacity: 45,480

Before Kenya was stripped of its hosting rights, its football association planned to use 4 stadiums for this edition of the tournament.[15] However, only Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi and Kasarani Stadium in Kasarani were considered to meet hosting requirements after inspections by CAF, while Mombasa Municipal Stadium in Mombasa and Kinoru Stadium in Meru did not.[16]

Squads

The squads of the participating teams each consisting of 23 players per the tournament's regulation article 72[17] were announced by CAF on 10 January 2018.[18][19]

Match officials

A total of 32 match officials (16 referees and 16 assistant referees) were selected for this edition of the tournament, of which 7 were selected to operate the video assistant referee (VAR) system in a CAF competition for the first time ever, beginning at the knockout stages.[20][21][22]

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held at Sofitel Rabat in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, on 17 November 2017 at 19:30 WET (UTC±0).[23]

The teams were drawn into 4 groups of 4.[24] The hosts Morocco were seeded in Group A. The remaining teams were seeded based on their results in the four most recent editions of the tournament: 2009 (multiplied by 1), 2011 (multiplied by 2), 2014 (multiplied by 3), 2016 (multiplied by 4):[25][26][27]

  • 7 points for winner
  • 5 points for runner-up
  • 3 points for semi-finalists
  • 2 points for quarter-finalists
  • 1 point for group stage

Based on the formula above, the 4 pots were allocated as follows:

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
  1.  Morocco (hosts) (10 pts)
  2.  Libya (22 pts)
  3.  Ivory Coast (15 pts)
  4.  Angola (14 pts)
  1.  Nigeria (13 pts)
  2.  Guinea (12 pts)
  3.  Cameroon (12 pts)
  4.  Zambia (11 pts)
  1.  Rwanda (10 pts)
  2.  Uganda (9 pts)
  3.  Sudan (6 pts)
  4.  Congo (3 pts)
  1.  Burkina Faso (3 pts)
  2.  Mauritania (3 pts)
  3.  Namibia (0 pts)
  4.  Equatorial Guinea (0 pts)

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advance to the knockout stage.

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):[17]

  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, WET (UTC±0).[28]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Morocco (H) 3 2 1 0 7 1 +6 7 Knockout stage
2  Sudan 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 7
3  Guinea 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 3
4  Mauritania 3 0 0 3 0 6 −6 0
Source: CAF (archived)
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Morocco 4–0 Mauritania
Report
Guinea 1–2 Sudan
Report

Morocco 3–1 Guinea
Report
Sudan 1–0 Mauritania
Report

Sudan 0–0 Morocco
Report
Mauritania 0–1 Guinea
Report

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Zambia 3 2 1 0 6 2 +4 7 Knockout stage
2  Namibia 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 7
3  Uganda 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1
4  Ivory Coast 3 0 1 2 0 3 −3 1
Source: CAF (archived)
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Ivory Coast 0–1 Namibia
Report
Zambia 3–1 Uganda
Report

Ivory Coast 0–2 Zambia
Report
Uganda 0–1 Namibia
Report

Uganda 0–0 Ivory Coast
Report
Namibia 1–1 Zambia
Report

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Nigeria 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 7 Knockout stage
2  Libya 3 2 0 1 4 1 +3 6
3  Rwanda 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4
4  Equatorial Guinea 3 0 0 3 1 7 −6 0
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Libya 3–0 Equatorial Guinea
Report
Nigeria 0–0 Rwanda
Report

Libya 0–1 Nigeria
Report
Rwanda 1–0 Equatorial Guinea
Report

Rwanda 0–1 Libya
Report
Equatorial Guinea 1–3 Nigeria
Report

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Congo 3 2 1 0 3 0 +3 7 Knockout stage
2  Angola 3 1 2 0 1 0 +1 5
3  Burkina Faso 3 0 2 1 1 3 −2 2
4  Cameroon 3 0 1 2 1 3 −2 1
Source: CAF (archived)
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Angola 0–0 Burkina Faso
Report
Cameroon 0–1 Congo
Report

Angola 1–0 Cameroon
Report
Congo 2–0 Burkina Faso
Report

Congo 0–0 Angola
Report
Burkina Faso 1–1 Cameroon
Report
  • P. Moussombo 52'

Knockout stage

From this stage onward, the video assistant referee (VAR) system would make its debut in a CAF competition. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used if necessary to decide the winner, except for the third-place match where penalty shoot-out and no extra time was used if necessary to decide the winner per the competition's regulations article 75.[17]

Bracket

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
27 January – Casablanca
 
 
 Morocco2
 
31 January – Casablanca
 
 Namibia0
 
 Morocco (a.e.t.)3
 
28 January – Agadir
 
 Libya1
 
 Congo1 (3)
 
4 February – Casablanca
 
 Libya (p)1 (5)
 
 Morocco4
 
27 January – Marrakech
 
 Nigeria0
 
 Zambia0
 
31 January – Marrakech
 
 Sudan1
 
 Sudan0
 
28 January – Tangier
 
 Nigeria1 Third place
 
 Nigeria (a.e.t.)2
 
3 February – Marrakech
 
 Angola1
 
 Libya1 (2)
 
 
 Sudan (p)1 (4)
 

Quarter-finals

Morocco 2–0 Namibia
Report
Referee: Mahamadou Keita (Mali)

Zambia 0–1 Sudan
Report

Nigeria 2–1 (a.e.t.) Angola
Report
Referee: Sadok Selmi (Tunisia)

Congo 1–1 (a.e.t.) Libya
  • Junior Makiesse 32'
Report
  • Saleh Al Taher 14'
Penalties
3–5
  • soccer ball with check mark M. Taktak
  • soccer ball with check mark A. Khalleefah
  • soccer ball with check mark A. Alaqoub
  • soccer ball with check mark A. Al-Maghasi
  • soccer ball with check mark Sand Masaud

Semi-finals

Morocco 3–1 (a.e.t.) Libya
Report
  • A. Khalleefah 86'

Sudan 0–1 Nigeria
Report

Third place match

Libya 1–1 Sudan
Report
Penalties
  • M. Taktak soccer ball with check mark
  • M. Elhouni soccer ball with red X
  • A. Alaqoub soccer ball with check mark
  • Ablo soccer ball with red X
2–4

Final

Morocco 4–0 Nigeria
Report
Attendance: 75,000

Goalscorers

9 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:[30]

Total Man of the Competition
Morocco Ayoub El Kaabi[30]
Top Scorer
Ayoub El Kaabi[30] (9 goals)
CAF Fair Play Team
 Morocco[30]

Team of the Tournament

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Sudan Akram El Hadi

Substitutes: Anas Zniti (Morocco), Sand Masaud (Libya), (Angola), Bader Hasan (Libya), Augustine Mulenga (Zambia), Saifeldin Bakhit (Sudan), Ismail El Haddad (Morocco)

Man of the match

Stage Team 1 Result Team 2 Man of the Match
First round of group stage matches
Group A Morocco  4–0  Mauritania Morocco Abdelilah Hafidi
Guinea  1–2  Sudan Sudan Saifeldin Malik Bakhit
Group B Ivory Coast  0–1  Namibia Namibia Vetunuavi Hambira
Zambia  3–1  Uganda Zambia Lazarous Kambole
Group C Libya  3–0  Equatorial Guinea Libya Saleh Al Taher
Nigeria  0–0  Rwanda Rwanda Djihad Bizimana
Group D Angola  0–0  Burkina Faso Angola
Cameroon  0–1  Congo Republic of the Congo Prestige Mboungou
Group A Morocco  3–1  Guinea Morocco Ayoub El Kaabi
Sudan  1–0  Mauritania Sudan Omer Suleiman Koko
Group B Ivory Coast  0–2  Zambia Zambia Augustine Mulenga
Uganda  0–1  Namibia Namibia Lloyd Kazapua
Group C Libya  0–1  Nigeria Nigeria Stephen Eze
Rwanda  1–0  Equatorial Guinea Rwanda Thierry Manzi
Group D Angola  1–0  Cameroon Angola
Congo  2–0  Burkina Faso Republic of the Congo Junior Makiesse
Group A Sudan  0–0  Morocco Sudan Akram El Hadi Salim
Mauritania  0–1  Guinea Guinea Ibrahima Sory Sankhon
Group B Uganda  0–0  Ivory Coast Ivory Coast Kouamé N'Guessan
Namibia  1–1  Zambia Namibia Teberius Lombard
Group C Rwanda  0–1  Libya Libya Elmutasem Abushnaf
Equatorial Guinea  1–3  Nigeria Nigeria Dayo Ojo
Group D Congo  0–0  Angola Republic of the Congo Francoeur Baron Kibamba
Burkina Faso  1–1  Cameroon Burkina Faso Wend-Panga Bambara
Knockout stage matches
Quarter-finals Morocco  2–0  Namibia Morocco Salaheddine Saidi
Zambia  0–1  Sudan Sudan Mohamed Hashim
Nigeria  2–1 (a.e.t.)  Angola Nigeria Ikechukwu Ezenwa
Congo  1–1 (a.e.t.)
(3–5 p)
 Libya Libya Abdulrahman Khalleefah
Semi-finals Morocco  3–1 (a.e.t.)  Libya Morocco Ayoub El Kaabi
Sudan  0–1  Nigeria Nigeria Gabriel Okechukwu
Third place match Libya  1–1
(2–4 p)
 Sudan Sudan Muhannad El Tahir
Final Morocco  4–0  Nigeria Morocco Zakaria Hadraf

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 (H) 6 5 1 0 16 2 +14 16 Champions
2  Nigeria 6 4 1 1 7 6 +1 13 Runners-up
3  Sudan 6 3 2 1 5 3 +2 11 Third place
4  Libya 6 2 2 2 7 6 +1 8 Fourth place
5  Congo 4 2 2 0 4 1 +3 8 Eliminated at the quarter-finals
6  Zambia 4 2 1 1 6 3 +3 7
7  Namibia 4 2 1 1 3 3 0 7
8  Angola 4 1 2 1 2 2 0 5
9  Rwanda 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4 Eliminated at the group stage
10  Guinea 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 3
11  Burkina Faso 3 0 2 1 1 3 −2 2
12  Cameroon 3 0 1 2 1 3 −2 1
13  Uganda 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1
14  Ivory Coast 3 0 1 2 0 3 −3 1
15  Equatorial Guinea 3 0 0 3 1 7 −6 0
16  Mauritania 3 0 0 3 0 6 −6 0
Source:[citation needed]
(H) Hosts

References

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External links