The record for the greatest number of appearances at the Africa Cup of Nations finals is shared by Andre Ayew of Ghana and Rigobert Song from Cameroon with 36 each.

Both competed at eight finals tournaments, with Song appearing successively from the 1996 edition in South Africa to the 2010 tournament in Angola.

Ayew’s first tournament was in 2008 in Ghana and he has played in all since, except the 2013 finals in South Africa.

Here is a closer look at their achievements.

RIGOBERT SONG
Song won the tournament twice in 2000 and 2002 and was a runner-up in 2008. In the 2000 final in Lagos, it was Song who converted the winning kick in the post-match penalty shootout.

He played 35 successive matches at the finals in the starting line-up while his 36th game was a substitute appearance against Tunisia in the last group game of the 2010 edition in Lubango, Angola.

Song’s matches:
1996
South Africa 3 Cameroon 0
Cameroon 2 Egypt 1
Angola 3 Cameroon 3

1998
Burkina Faso 0 Cameroon 1
Cameroon 2 Guinea 2
Algeria 1 Cameroon 2
Cameroon 0 DR Congo 1

2000
Ghana 1 Cameroon 1
Cameroon 3 Cote d’Ivoire 0
Cameroon 0 Togo 1
Algeria 1 Cameroon 2
Cameroon 3 Tunisia 0
Nigeria 2 Cameroon 2

2002
Cameroon 1 DR Congo 0
Cameroon 1 Cote d’Ivoire 0
Cameroon 3 Togo 0
Cameroon 1 Egypt 0
Mali 0 Cameroon 3
Cameroon 0 Senegal 0

2004
Algeria 1 Cameroon 1
Cameroon 5 Zimbabwe 3
Cameroon 0 Egypt 0
Cameroon 1 Nigeria 2

2006
Angola 1 Cameroon 3
Cameroon 2 Togo 0
Cameroon 2 DR Congo 0
Cameroon 1 Cote d’Ivoire 1

2008
Cameroon 2 Egypt 4
Cameroon 5 Zambia 1
Cameroon 3 Sudan 0
Cameroon 3 Tunisia 2
Ghana 0 Cameroon 1
Cameroon 0 Egypt 1

2010
Cameroon 0 Gabon 1
Cameroon 3 Zambia 2
Cameroon 2 Tunisia 2

ANDRE AYEW
Ayew was a teenager when selected for the 2008 finals which Ghana hosted and he came on as a substitute in all three group games before starting for the first time in the semi-final loss to Song’s Cameroon.

Two years later in Angola he played in the final as Ghana lost to Egypt and was also a runner-up in the 2015 edition in Equatorial Guinea, which the Black Stars lost on post-match penalties to Cote d’Ivoire.

Ayew did not participate in the 2013 finals, where he chose to sit out the tournament, and had he taken part would surely have the record for the most tournaments and appearances.

Ayew’s matches:
2008
Ghana 2 Guinea 1
Ghana 1 Namibia 0
Ghana 2 Morocco 0
Ghana 0 Cameroon 1

2010
Cote d’Ivoire 3 Ghana 1
Burkina Faso 0 Ghana 1
Angola 0 Ghana 1
Ghana 1 Nigeria 0
Egypt 1 Ghana 0

2012
Botswana 0 Ghana 1
Ghana 2 Mali 0 (goal)
Ghana 1 Guinea 1
Ghana 2 Tunisia 1 (goal)
Ghana 0 Zambia 1
Ghana 0 Mali 2

2015
Ghana 1 Senegal 2 (goal)
Algeria 0 Ghana 1
Ghana 2 South Africa 1 (goal)
Ghana 3 Guinea 0
Equatorial Guinea 0 Ghana 3 (goal)
Cote d’Ivoire 0 Ghana 0

2017
Ghana 1 Uganda 0 (goal)
Ghana 1 Mali 0
Egypt 1 Ghana 0
DR Congo 1 Ghana 2 (goal)
Cameroon 2 Ghana 0
Burkina Faso 1 Ghana 0

2019
Benin 1 Ghana 2 (goal)
Cameroon 0 Ghana 0
Ghana 2 Guinea Bissau 0
Ghana 1 Tunisia 1

2022
Ghana 0 Morocco 1
Gabon 1 Ghana 1 (goal)
Comoros Islands 3 Ghana 2

2023
Cape Verde Islands 2 Ghana 1
Ghana 2 Mozambique 2

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Ahead of the draw for the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 that will be staged in Rabat on January 27, we round up the numbers on the continent’s greatest footballing show.

0 – There will be no debut nation at these finals in Morocco. All 24 teams have competed at least once before in the continental showpiece, though Botswana and Comoros will be making a second appearance.

1 – Former Zambia goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene is the only gloveman to score at the AFCON when he netted a penalty in a 1-1 pool stage draw with Nigeria in 2013. Zambia were defending champions but could not hold onto their crown.

2 – Ex-Egypt striker Hassan El-Shazly holds the record for most hattricks at the AFCON after he scored two – one in 1963 and another in 1970.

3 – Two coaches have lifted the AFCON trophy three times. Ghana’s Charles Gyamfi and Hassan Shehata, who won three in a row between 2006 and 2010.

3 – Egypt are the only nation to lift the AFCON trophy three tournaments in a row when they were champions in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

5 – Laurent Pokou holds the record for the most goals scored in a single AFCON match when he netted five times for Cote d’Ivoire in a 6-1 victory over Ethiopia in 1970.

6 – Four players have managed to score in six different finals tournaments – Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon, above), Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia), Andre Ayew (Ghana) and Asamoah Gyan (Ghana).

7 – Egypt have won the AFCON title the most times with seven victories. They have also claimed three silver medals and three bronze, so have 13 medals in total. Nigeria actually have the most medals overall with three gold, five silver and eight bronze for a total of 16.

8 – Ex-Cameroon defender Rigobert Song, former Egypt star Ahmed Hassan, Ghana striker Andre Ayew and Tunisian forward Youssef Msakni hold the record for the most AFCON tournament appearances as a player with eight each.

9 – Former Zaire (now DR Congo) forward Ndaye Mulamba holds the record for the most goals in a single AFCON finals when he netted nine in 1974 to lead his side to the title.

9 – Frenchman Claude Leroy holds the record for most tournaments as a coach having led teams at nine separate AFCON between 1986 and 2017. He took six different teams to the finals in all – Cameroon (twice), Senegal (twice), Ghana, DR Congo (twice), Congo-Brazzaville and Togo.

12 – Twelve of the previous 34 host nations have lifted the AFCON trophy on home soil. Cote d’Ivoire managed it at the 2023 finals, the first time a host had won since Egypt in 2006.

16 – The youngest player to appear at the AFCON finals was Shiva N’Zigou, who was 16 years and 93 days when he played for Gabon in a group stage match against South Africa in 2000.

17 – Tunisia hold the record for the most consecutive AFCON finals appearances. Morocco 2025 will be their 17^th in a row.

18 – Former Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o holds the record for most goals at the AFCON finals with 18 from 29 matches across six tournaments between 2000 and 2010.

26 – Egypt have appeared at the most finals, 26, one more than Cote d’Ivoire, who are next on the list, with Ghana in third on 24 appearances. The latter will not be in Morocco this time round.

 44 – The oldest player to appear at the AFCON was ex-Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary (above), who was 44 years and 21 days old when he played against Cameroon in 2017.

44 – The number of African nations out of 54 who have qualified for the finals in the past. Only Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Lesotho, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Somalia and South Sudan have never appeared.

111 – Egypt have played the most games at the AFCON finals. Cote d’Ivoire (106), Ghana (105) and Nigeria (104) are the other nations to have played over a century of games. Egypt also hold the records for games won (60) and goals scored (175).

119 – The 2023 finals holds the record for most goals scored at 119, smashing the previous record of 102 in 2019. Both those tournaments featured 24 teams. The finals with the most goals on average per game was in 1962 (4.50 per game) and the least in 1988 (1.44).

1957 – The first AFCON finals was played in 1957 and contained only three teams – Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan.

-CAF

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The Morocco 2025 Africa Cup of Nations provides a unique setting never experienced before. Teams will get to know their opponents, nearly 11 months before the kick-off of the tournament in December.

Moreover, this is the first time the competition will be held in December since it began 68 years ago.

It will also be the first tournament to spill into the following year as the final match is slated for 18 January 2026.

The Africa Cup of Nations will therefore add to the festivities of Christmas of 2025 and the New Year celebrations of 2026.

The final draw holds next week on 27 January in the green city of Rabat.

This will be the 35th edition of the AFCON, which was first played in 1957. It is the third oldest continental competition in football behind South America (1916) and Asia (1956).

The 24 teams that will be in the draw for the 2025 finals are as follows, with their previous appearances and best finish included:

• Algeria (21st appearance, champions in 1990, 2019)
• Angola (10th appearance, quarter-finalists in 2008, 2010, 2023)
• Benin (5th appearance, quarter-finalists in 2019)
• Botswana (2nd appearance, group stages in 2012)
• Burkina Faso (14th appearance, runners-up in 2013)
• Cameroon (22nd appearance, champions in 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017)
• Comoros (2nd appearance, round of 16 in 2021)
• Cote d’Ivoire (26th appearance, champions in 1992, 2015, 2023)
• Democratic Republic of Congo (21st appearance, champions in 1968, 1974)
• Egypt (27th appearance, champions in 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010)
• Equatorial Guinea (5th appearance, fourth place in 2015)
• Gabon (9th appearance, quarter-finalists in 1996, 2012)
• Mali (14th appearance, runners-up in 1972)
• Morocco (20th appearance, champions in 1976)
• Mozambique (6th appearance, group stages in 1986, 1996, 1998, 2010, 2023)
• Nigeria (21st appearance, champions in 1980, 1994, 2013)
• Senegal (18th appearance, champions in 2021)
• South Africa (12th appearance, champions in 1996)
• Sudan (10th appearance, champions in 1970)
• Tanzania (4th appearance, group stage in 1980, 2019, 2023)
• Tunisia (22nd appearance, champions in 2004)
• Uganda (8th appearance, runners-up in 1978)
• Zambia (19th appearance, champions in 2012)
• Zimbabwe (6th appearance, group stage in 2004, 2006, 2017, 2019, 2021)

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