2008 African Cup of Nation
| MTN Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2008 | |
|---|---|
Africa Cup of Nations 2008 official logo
|
|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Ghana |
| Dates | 20 January – 10 February |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Egypt (6th title)
|
| Runners-up |  Cameroon |
| Third place |  Ghana |
| Fourth place |  Ivory Coast |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 99 (3.09 per match) |
| Attendance | 714,000 (22,313 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
Samuel Eto'o (5 goals) |
| Best player |
Hosny Abd Rabo
|
| Best goalkeeper |
Essam El-Hadary
|
The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament was staged at four venues around Ghana between 20 January and 10 February 2008.
Egypt won the tournament, beating Cameroon 1–0 in the final. As winners, they qualified for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup as African representatives. With 99 goals, it was the highest-scoring Africa Cup of Nations ever.
Ghana won the right to host the tournament after defeating Libya 9–3 in a vote among Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee members in Cairo. South Africa withdrew their bid after winning the right to host the 2010 World Cup.
The entrants were divided into 12 groups. All group winners and the best three runners-up from groups with four teams (groups 2-11) qualified for the finals. Host Ghana qualified automatically. Qualifying took place between 2 September 2006 and 13 October 2007.
16 referees and 16 assistant referees were selected for the tournament, including two from Japan and one from South Korea.
The draw for the tournament took place on 19 October 2007. The sixteen teams were divided into four pots according to their performances in past Cup of Nations tournaments. Ghana, as host, were automatically seeded as the top team in Group A. Egypt, the defending champions, were seeded as the top team in Group C. Each group consists of four teams, one drawn from each of the pots.
During the previous editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, the ball used was not a ball especially made for the tournament. As the tournament was held on even years, the same years big tournaments such as the UEFA European Cup of Nations or the FIFA World Cup were held, the official ball for the tournament held this year was used for the African Cup of Nations: the Adidas Roteiro in 2004, or the Adidas Teamgeist in 2006. However, for the 2008 tournament, Adidas made a special ball, clearly different from the Adidas Europass going to be used five months later for the Euro. The ball was named Wawa Aba and was designed to include host nation Ghana’s red, yellow and green. The ball was later used for the other African competitions.
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