# 2018 African Nations Championship

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, 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.

## 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. However, CAF decided to change the host nation on 23 September the following year due to a lack of progress with preparations 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:
* Equatorial Guinea
* Ethiopia
* Morocco (selected as hosts)
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.

## Qualification

The qualification rounds took place from 20 April to 20 August 2017.
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. However, Egypt declined to participate citing a "congested domestic calendar". 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.

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

## Venues

This edition of the tournament had matches held in Casablanca, Marrakech, Agadir and Tangier.
| Casablanca | CasablancaAgadirMarrakeshTangier | Marrakesh |
| Stade Mohamed V | CasablancaAgadirMarrakeshTangier | Stade de Marrakech |
| Capacity: 45,600 | CasablancaAgadirMarrakeshTangier | Capacity: 45,240 |
| Tangier | CasablancaAgadirMarrakeshTangier | Agadir |
| Ibn Batouta Stadium | CasablancaAgadirMarrakeshTangier | Stade Adrar |
| Capacity: 45,000 | CasablancaAgadirMarrakeshTangier | 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. 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.

## Squads

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

## 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.

## 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).
The teams were drawn into 4 groups of 4. 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):
* 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 |
| Morocco (hosts) (10 pts) Libya (22 pts) Ivory Coast (15 pts) Angola (14 pts) | Nigeria (13 pts) Guinea (12 pts) Cameroon (12 pts) Zambia (11 pts) | Rwanda (10 pts) Uganda (9 pts) Sudan (6 pts) Congo (3 pts) | Burkina Faso (3 pts) Mauritania (3 pts) Namibia (0 pts) 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):
* Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* 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;
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* Goals scored in all group matches;
* Drawing of lots.
All times are local, WET (UTC±0).

### 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 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Guinea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | Mauritania | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0 | |

### 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 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Uganda | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 | |
| 4 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 1 | |

### 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 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Rwanda | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Equatorial Guinea | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 | |

### 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 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Burkina Faso | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 | |
| 4 | Cameroon | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 | |

## 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.

### Bracket

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| 27 January – Casablanca | 27 January – Casablanca | | | |
| Morocco | 2 | | | |
| Morocco | 2 | 31 January – Casablanca | 31 January – Casablanca | | |
| Namibia | 0 | 31 January – Casablanca | 31 January – Casablanca | |
| Namibia | 0 | Morocco (a.e.t.) | 3 | |
| 28 January – Agadir | 28 January – Agadir | | Morocco (a.e.t.) | 3 | |
| 28 January – Agadir | 28 January – Agadir | Libya | 1 | |
| Congo | 1 (3) | Libya | 1 | |
| Congo | 1 (3) | | | | 4 February – Casablanca | 4 February – Casablanca |
| Libya (p) | 1 (5) | | | | 4 February – Casablanca | 4 February – Casablanca |
| Libya (p) | 1 (5) | | | | Morocco | 4 |
| 27 January – Marrakech | 27 January – Marrakech | | | | | Morocco | 4 |
| 27 January – Marrakech | 27 January – Marrakech | | | | Nigeria | 0 |
| Zambia | 0 | | | | Nigeria | 0 |
| Zambia | 0 | 31 January – Marrakech | 31 January – Marrakech | | | |
| Sudan | 1 | 31 January – Marrakech | 31 January – Marrakech | | | |
| Sudan | 1 | Sudan | 0 | | | |
| 28 January – Tangier | 28 January – Tangier | | Sudan | 0 | | | |
| 28 January – Tangier | 28 January – Tangier | Nigeria | 1 | | Third place | Third place |
| Nigeria (a.e.t.) | 2 | Nigeria | 1 | | Third place | Third place |
| Nigeria (a.e.t.) | 2 | | | | 3 February – Marrakech | 3 February – Marrakech |
| Angola | 1 | | | | 3 February – Marrakech | 3 February – Marrakech |
| Angola | 1 | | | | Libya | 1 (2) |
| | | | | | Sudan (p) | 1 (4) |

### Third place match
## Final
## Goalscorers
### 9 goals

* Ayoub El Kaabi

### 3 goals

* Saleh Al Taher
* Augustine Mulenga

### 2 goals

* Walid El Karti
* Zakaria Hadraf
* Junior Makiesse
* Gabriel Okechukwu
* Anthony Okpotu
* Walaa Eldin Musa
* Seif Teiri
* Lazarous Kambole

### 1 goal

* Job
* Vá
* Mohamed Sydney Sylla
* Patrick Moussombo
* Carof Bakoua
* Kader Bidimbou
* Amor
* Saïdouba Bissiri Camara
* Sékou Amadou Camara
* Ibrahima Sory Sankhon
* Salem Ablo
* Elmutasem Abushnaf
* Zakaria Alharaish
* Abdulrahman Khalleefah
* Achraf Bencharki
* Ismail Haddad
* Salaheddine Saidi
* Vetunuavi Hambira
* Absalom Iimbondi
* Panduleni Nekundi
* Rabiu Ali
* Sunday Faleye
* Dayo Ojo
* Thierry Manzi
* Omer Suleiman
* Derrick Nsibambi
* Fackson Kapumbu

## Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
* Total Man of the Competition
* Ayoub El Kaabi
* Top Scorer
* Ayoub El Kaabi (9 goals)
* CAF Fair Play Team
* Morocco

### Team of the Tournament

| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Akram El Hadi | Omer Suliman Stephen Eze Badr Benoun | Dayo Ojo Walid El Karti Salaheddine Saidi Zakaria Hadraf Abdulrahman Ramadhan | Ayoub El Kaabi Saleh Taher |
Substitutes: Anas Zniti (Morocco), Sand Masaud (Libya), Vá (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 | Abdelilah Hafidi |
| Group A | Guinea | 1–2 | Sudan | Saifeldin Malik Bakhit |
| Group B | Ivory Coast | 0–1 | Namibia | Vetunuavi Hambira |
| Group B | Zambia | 3–1 | Uganda | Lazarous Kambole |
| Group C | Libya | 3–0 | Equatorial Guinea | Saleh Al Taher |
| Group C | Nigeria | 0–0 | Rwanda | Djihad Bizimana |
| Group D | Angola | 0–0 | Burkina Faso | Vá |
| Group D | Cameroon | 0–1 | Congo | Prestige Mboungou |
| Group A | Morocco | 3–1 | Guinea | Ayoub El Kaabi |
| Group A | Sudan | 1–0 | Mauritania | Omer Suleiman Koko |
| Group B | Ivory Coast | 0–2 | Zambia | Augustine Mulenga |
| Group B | Uganda | 0–1 | Namibia | Lloyd Kazapua |
| Group C | Libya | 0–1 | Nigeria | Stephen Eze |
| Group C | Rwanda | 1–0 | Equatorial Guinea | Thierry Manzi |
| Group D | Angola | 1–0 | Cameroon | Vá |
| Group D | Congo | 2–0 | Burkina Faso | Junior Makiesse |
| Group A | Sudan | 0–0 | Morocco | Akram El Hadi Salim |
| Group A | Mauritania | 0–1 | Guinea | Ibrahima Sory Sankhon |
| Group B | Uganda | 0–0 | Ivory Coast | Kouamé N'Guessan |
| Group B | Namibia | 1–1 | Zambia | Teberius Lombard |
| Group C | Rwanda | 0–1 | Libya | Elmutasem Abushnaf |
| Group C | Equatorial Guinea | 1–3 | Nigeria | Dayo Ojo |
| Group D | Congo | 0–0 | Angola | Francoeur Baron Kibamba |
| Group D | Burkina Faso | 1–1 | Cameroon | Wend-Panga Bambara |
| Knockout stage matches |||||
| Quarter-finals | Morocco | 2–0 | Namibia | Salaheddine Saidi |
| Quarter-finals | Zambia | 0–1 | Sudan | Mohamed Hashim |
| Quarter-finals | Nigeria | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | Angola | Ikechukwu Ezenwa |
| Quarter-finals | Congo | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–5 p) | Libya | Abdulrahman Khalleefah |
| Semi-finals | Morocco | 3–1 (a.e.t.) | Libya | Ayoub El Kaabi |
| Semi-finals | Sudan | 0–1 | Nigeria | Gabriel Okechukwu |
| Third place match | Libya | 1–1 (2–4 p) | Sudan | Muhannad El Tahir |
| Final | Morocco | 4–0 | Nigeria | 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 | Eliminated at the quarter-finals |
| 7 | Namibia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | Eliminated at the quarter-finals |
| 8 | Angola | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | Eliminated at the quarter-finals |
| 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 | Eliminated at the group stage |
| 11 | Burkina Faso | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 | Eliminated at the group stage |
| 12 | Cameroon | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 | Eliminated at the group stage |
| 13 | Uganda | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 | Eliminated at the group stage |
| 14 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 1 | Eliminated at the group stage |
| 15 | Equatorial Guinea | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 | Eliminated at the group stage |
| 16 | Mauritania | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0 | Eliminated at the group stage |