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The 2031 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2031 or CAN 2031), known as the Total 2031 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 38th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament was hosted by Ethiopia. The competition was held from 16 January to 7 February 2031, as per the decision of the CAF Executive Committee on 20 July 2031 to move the Africa Cup of Nations from June/July to January/February.

2031 Africa Cup of Nations

2031 Coupe d'Afrique des Nations
Official logo
Tournament details
Host country	Ethiopia
Dates	16 January – 7 February
Teams	16
Venue(s)	4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Ghana (5th title)
Runners-up	Cameroon
Third place	Angola
Fourth place	Mali
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	43 (1.34 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Olivier Kemen (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Olivier Kemen
Best young player	Osman Bukari
Best goalkeeper	Abdul Nurudeen
Fair play award	Angola
← 2029 2033 →

Ghana won their fifth title after defeating Five-time champions Cameroon 1–0 in the final. Angola finished third after beating Mali 2–0 in the third place play-off.

As champions, Ghana qualified for the confederations cup in China. Tournament hosts Ethiopia were eliminated in the Quarter-Final and defending champions Gabon were eliminated in the group stage. The tournament was originally scheduled to be played in June and July 2031. However, the CAF announced on 15 September 2030 that due to unfavourable climatic conditions during that period, the tournament had been rescheduled to be played between 16 or 18 January to 7 February 2031. It was also the first time the Africa Cup of Nations moved from 24 to 16 teams due to budget cuts.

Host Selection

Ethiopia was selected as Host on the 21 March 2029 at the Confederation of African Football committee in Cairo,Egypt. Ethiopia bid to host the AFCON on the 12 April 2027. After the CAF Executive Committee meeting on 24 January 2028, it was announced that there were three more official candidates for the 2031 edition.

Bids:

• Algeria
• Guinea
• Ivory Coast
• Namibia

Rejected bids:

• DR Congo
• Gabon
• Zambia
• Botswana

Prize money

The CAF Decreased in 2031, the prize money to be shared among the teams participating in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Sponsorship

In July 2029 under CAF President Ali Akan , Total renewed an eight-year sponsorship package from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to support 10 of its principal competitions. Total started with the Africa Cup of Nations that was held in Gabon in 2017 therefore renaming it to Total Africa Cup of Nations.

Broadcasting

Below is the list of the 2031 AFCON broadcasting rights:

Format

A total of 16 teams competed in the final tournament from the Previous 24 in the 2029 edition due to budget cuts. Only the hosts received an automatic qualification spot, with the other 15 teams qualifying through a qualification tournament. For the finals, the 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams. The teams in each group played a single round robin, and after the group stage, the top two teams from each group advanced to the Quarter-finals. From then on the tournament proceeded with a knockout phase.

Qualification

Match ball

CAF announced the official match ball named Yealeab(play in Arabic Language) on 23 November 2030. It was made by English manufacturer Umbro.

Mascot

The official mascot was announced on the 17 November 2030. It was a lion named "Aleab" play with it as translating to Ethiopia Arabic language , wearing Ethiopian colours and "Aleab" words bearing behind.

Venues

The Confederation of African Football committee with the help of pitch inspectors approved the following venues for the use of the tournament. The Tigray Stadium in Mekelle,hosted the opening and final game. Woldiya Stadium and Hawassa Kenema Stadium had poor attendance due to security instability in the areas,The Ethiopian army restored the security situation,but fans rejected the claims after an attack on the fans at Woldiya Stadium ,that took 8 lives and injured 28 by armed rebels 6 days later,the Matches where moved from Hawassa Kenema Stadium to Tigray Stadium,Mekelle due to security threats and instability in the regions.

Addis AbabaMekelleWeldiyaHawassaclass=notpageimage| 2031 African cup of nations venues		Addis Ababa	Mekelle
		Addis Ababa Stadium	Tigray Stadium
		Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 60,000
		Weldiya	Hawassa
		Woldiya Stadium	Hawassa Kenema Stadium
		Capacity: 25,155	Capacity: 60,000

Match officials

The following match officials where choosen for the tournament after proper analysis and fitness levels,the Match officials had to at least score 76% in the local assessment tests. Namibia Referees Jackson Pavaza and Henry Revert withdrew from the tournament for unknown reasons while Malawi top referee Raphael Mbotela was suspended for missing the nessesary connection flights to Addis Ababa on Referee fitment date on the 8th January 2031.

Referees

• Bakary Gassama
• Bamlek Tessema weyesa
• Victor Gomes
• Salima Mukansanga
• Dahane Beida
• Sadok Selmi
• Victor Binedine
• Daniel Bennett
• Sidi Alioum
• Issa Sy
• Lydia Taffese
• Vincentia Amedone
• Manuel Samir
• Raphael Mbotela
• Mandla Ncikazi
• Jackson Pavaza
• Henry Revert

• Helder Carvalho
• John Siswetso
• Jean Ishimwe
• Oscar Tabarez (CONCACAF).

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

Squads

Due to Budget cuts,CAF President Ali Akan instructed respective associations that qualified to register a squad of no more than 25 players including 3 goalkeepers and 5 technical staff including the head coach and medical doctor,names where to be submitted to CAF headquarters no later than 5 January 2031 17:00 C.A.T,all players and staff where required to have legit and valid passports,no association was permitted to travel with more than 3 technical staff who are not from CAF memberships.

Draw

The official draw was conducted on the 30 November 2030 17:00 C.A.T in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia.The teams where arranged and seeded according to their latest Fifa rankings of October-November 2030. The 16 teams where drawn into 4 Groups of 4 teams each,A-D with host Ethiopia assigned A1 and title holders Gabon assigned C1 seeded into pot 1 both respectively. The balls where drawn by the CAF executive committee.

Seeding table

.

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the stadium began at 10:00 with the setting up of the animation groups and the cultural activities which lasted until 14:00. Guests and officials were set up until the start of the opening match at 18:00. Among the guests were members of Confederation of African Football (CAF), members of the diplomatic corps, presidents of legislative and judicial institutions, members of government including the president of COCAN 2031 and the presidents of CAF and FIFA.

The set-up of officials ended by 16:00 with the arrival of the presidents of Ethiopia,Mali,Namibia,Ivory Coast and Kenya. After the performance of the hymns, the opening speech was made by Ali Akan, CAF's president followed by the solemn opening of the competition by the President of the Republic of Ethiopia, Solomon Makeh, after which a cultural parade of about an hour took place.

A cultural interlude representing the four cultural areas of Ethiopia was presented with five hundred young ambassadors and the mascot Aleab who participated in the dance, the host artist, Bimp offered a performance. During this parade, a virtual lion appeared to viewers, this was set up by Belgian graphic designer Thibault Baras on an idea of the creative company lib. Made in augmented reality and turned on a game engine, this lion was sixteen meters long, eight meters high and weighed a ton.

After the matches, which took place from 18:00 to 23:00, there was a fireworks display.

Group stage

The schedule of the final tournament was released on 18 November 2030. The top two teams of each Group qualified for the knockout stages.

Tie-breaking criteria

If two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:

1. points earned in the matches between the teams concerned;
2. goal difference in the matches between the teams concerned;
3. number of goals scored in the matches between the teams concerned;
4. goal difference in all group matches;
5. number of goals scored in all group matches;
6. fair play points system taking into account the number of yellow and red cards;
7. drawing of lots by the organising committee.

All times C.A.T (UTC+2)

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Namibia	3	2	1	0	3	1	+2	7	Knockout stage
2	Ethiopia (H)	3	1	2	0	1	0	+1	5
3	Ivory Coast	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
4	Kenya	3	0	0	3	2	5	−3	0

Ethiopia	0—0	Namibia
	Report

Kenya	1—2	Ivory Coast
Wanyama 80'	Report	Gradel 21' Die 82'

Ethiopia	1—0	Kenya
Sarr 70'	Report

Namibia	1—0	Ivory Coast
Bester 61'	Report

Ethiopia	0—0	Ivory Coast
	Report

Namibia	2—1	Kenya
Bester 40' Kambanda 70'	Report	Olunga 55'

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mali	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4	7	Knockout stage
2	Ghana	3	1	1	1	1	3	−2	4
3	Zambia	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	3
4	Algeria	3	0	1	2	0	2	−2	1

Algeria	0—0	Zambia
	Report

Ghana	0—3	Mali
	Report	Koné 40' 55' Traoré 90' (pen.)

Algeria	0—1	Ghana
	Report	Opoku 22' (pen.)

Zambia	0—0	Mali
	Report

Algeria	0—1	Mali
	Report	Traoré 89'

Zambia	0—0	Ghana
	Report

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Guinea	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2	5	Knockout stage
2	Uganda	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
3	Congo	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
4	Gabon	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1

Guinea	1—1	Congo
Camara 30'	Report	Conte 78' (o.g.)

Gabon	0—0	Uganda
	Report

Guinea	2—0	Gabon
Sow 22' Sylla 50'	Report

Congo	0—1	Uganda
	Report	Okwi 23'

Uganda	1—1	Guinea
Okello 40'	Report	Sylla 90+2'

Congo	1—0	Gabon
Ovouka 22'	Report

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cameroon	3	3	0	0	8	1	+7	9	Knockout stage
2	Angola	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
3	Nigeria	3	1	1	1	2	4	−2	4
4	Burkina Faso	3	0	0	3	0	6	−6	0

Burkina Faso	0—1	Nigeria
	Report	Bassey 31'

Cameroon	2—0	Angola
Kunde 30' Hongla 80'	Report

Burkina Faso	0—2	Cameroon
	Report	Hongla 50' Kemen 71'

Nigeria	0—0	Angola
	Report

Burkina Faso	0—3	Angola
	Report	Nzola 20' Herenilson 77' Zini 80'

Nigeria	1—4	Cameroon
Duru 21'	Report	Kunde 30' Hongla 62' Kemen 76' 88' (pen.)

Knockout Stage

In the knockout stages, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner, except for the play-off for third place, where no extra time was played (Regulations Article 75).

Bracket

	Quarter Final				Semi-finals				Final
	30 Jan – Mekelle
	Namibia	0
					3 Feb– Mekelle
	Ghana	2
					Ghana	1
	30 Jan – Addis Ababa
					Mali	0
	Mali	1
									7 Feb –Mekelle
	Ethiopia	0
									Ghana	1
	1 Feb – Hawassa
									Cameroon	0
	Guinea	1(2)
					4 Feb – Hawassa
	Angola(p)	1(4)
					Angola	0
	1 Feb – Weldiya
					Cameroon	1			Third place
	Cameroon	1
									6 Feb - Addis Ababa
	Uganda	0
									Mali	0
									Angola	2

Quarter Finals

Namibia	0—2	Ghana
	Report	Opoku 16' (pen.) Bukari 70' (pen.)

Mali	1—0	Ethiopia
Traoré 77'	Report

Guinea	1—1 (a.e.t.)	Angola
Traoré 33'	Report	Nzola 70'
Penalties
Conté Camara Sylla Diawara	2—4	Geraldo Depú Banza Herenilson

Cameroon	1—0	Uganda
Kemen 90'	Report

Semi-Finals

Ghana	1—0 (a.e.t.)	Mali
Bukari 117'	Report

Angola	0—1	Cameroon
	Report	Kemen 80'

Third place play-off

Mali	0—2	Angola
	Report	Quinito 6' Herenilson 60'

Final

Ghana	1—0	Cameroon
Bokele 16' (o.g.)	Report

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 43 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 1.34 goals per match.

5 goals

• Olivier Kemen

3 goals

• Martin Hongla
• Adama Traoré

2 goals

• Rudolf Bester
• Ibrahima Koné
• Nicholas Opoku
• Morlaye Sylla
• Kunde
• M'Bala Nzola
• Herenilson
• Osman Bukari

1 goal

• Max Gradel
• Serey Die
• Victor Wanyama
• Issa Sarr
• Michael Olunga
• Edmund Kambanda
• Camara
• Sow
• Emmanuel Okwi
• Allan Okello
• Ovouka
• Bassey
• Ebube Duru
• Zini
• Quinito
• Traoré

2 own goals

• Conte(Against Congo)
• Malcom Bokele(Against Ghana)

Awards

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

Total Man of the Competition
Osman Bukari
Top Scorer
Olivier Kemen
Best Goalkeeper
Abdul Nurudeen
Best Young Player
Osman Bukari
CAF Fair Play Team
Angola

CAF AFCON Team of the Tournament

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Coach
Abdul Nurudeen	Nicholas Opoku M'Bala Nzola Edmund Addo Malcom Bokele	Martin Hongla Morlaye Sylla Herenilson	Rudolf Bester Olivier Kemen Osman Bukari	Chris Hughton

Final Standings

Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by a penalty shoot-out are counted as draws.

Pos.	Team	G	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	GF	GA	GD
1	Ghana	B	6	4	2	0	14	5	3	+2
2	Cameroon	D	6	5	0	1	15	10	2	+8
3	Angola	D	6	4	1	1	13	5	4	+1
4	Mali	B	6	3	1	2	10	5	3	+2
Eliminated in the quarter-finals
5	Namibia	A	4	2	1	1	7	3	3	0
6	Guinea	C	4	1	3	0	6	5	3	+2
7	Uganda	C	4	1	2	1	5	2	2	0
8	Ethiopia	A	4	1	2	1	5	1	1	0
Eliminated in group stage
9	Congo	C	3	1	1	1	4	2	2	0
10	Ivory Coast	A	3	1	1	1	4	2	2	0
11	Nigeria	D	3	1	1	1	4	2	4	−2
12	Zambia	B	3	0	3	0	3	0	0	0
13	Algeria	B	3	0	1	2	1	0	2	−2
14	Gabon	C	3	0	1	2	1	0	3	−3
15	Kenya	A	3	0	0	3	0	2	5	−3
16	Burkina Faso	D	3	0	0	3	0	0	6	−6

Closing Ceremony

Discipline

References

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