# 1990 African Cup of Nations

The 1990 African Cup of Nations was the 17th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa (CAF). It was hosted by Algeria. Just like in 1988, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. Algeria won its first championship, beating Nigeria in the final 1–0.

## Qualified teams

The 8 qualified teams are:
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament |
| Algeria | Hosts | | 6 (1968, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988) |
| Cameroon | Holders | 27 March 1988 | 6 (1970, 1972, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988) |
| Senegal | 2nd round winners | 16 July 1989 | 3 (1965, 1968, 1986) |
| Kenya | 2nd round winners | 29 July 1989 | 2 (1988, 1990) |
| Egypt | 2nd round winners | 30 July 1989 | 11 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1970, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988) |
| Ivory Coast | 2nd round winners | 30 July 1989 | 8 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988) |
| Nigeria | 2nd round winners | 30 July 1989 | 7 (1963, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1988) |
| Zambia | 2nd round winners | 30 July 1989 | 4 (1974, 1978, 1982, 1986) |

### Notes

* ↑ Bold indicates champion for that year, Italic indicates host.

## Venues

The competition was played in two venues in Algiers and Annaba.
| Algiers | AlgiersAnnaba |
| Stade du 5 Juillet | AlgiersAnnaba |
| Capacity: 85,000 | AlgiersAnnaba |
| Annaba | AlgiersAnnaba |
| Stade du 19 Mai | AlgiersAnnaba |
| Capacity: 56,000 | AlgiersAnnaba |

## Match officials
### Referees

* Laurent Petcha (Cameroon)
* Mohamed Hussam El-Dine (Egypt)
* Jean-Fidèle Diramba (Gabon)
* Badou Jasseh (Gambia)
* Idrissa Traoré (Mali)
* Idrissa Sarr (Mauritania)
* Eganaden Cadressen (Mauritius)
* Abdellali Naciri (Morocco)
* Badara Sène (Senegal)
* Ally Hafidhi (Tanzania)
* Mawukpona Hounnake-Kouassi (Togo)
* Naji Jouini (Tunisia)

### Invited referees

* Shizuo Takada (Japan)
* Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)

## Group stage
### Tiebreakers

If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking:
* Greatest total goal difference in the three group matches
* Greatest number of goals scored in the three group matches
* Most points earned in matches against other teams in the tie
* Greatest goal difference in matches against other teams in the tie
* Greatest number of goals scored in matches against other teams in the tie
* Drawing of lots

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Algeria (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 6 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 2 | Nigeria | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 4 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 3 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 2 | |
| 4 | Egypt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Zambia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 5 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 2 | Senegal | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 4 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 3 | Cameroon | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Kenya | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 1 | |

## Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 12 March – Annaba | 12 March – Annaba |
| Zambia | 0 |
| Zambia | 0 | 16 March – Algiers | 16 March – Algiers |
| Nigeria | 2 | 16 March – Algiers | 16 March – Algiers |
| Nigeria | 2 | Nigeria | 0 |
| 12 March – Algiers | 12 March – Algiers | | Nigeria | 0 |
| 12 March – Algiers | 12 March – Algiers | Algeria | 1 |
| Algeria | 2 | Algeria | 1 |
| Senegal | 1 | | |
| Senegal | 1 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 15 March – Algiers | 15 March – Algiers |
| | | Zambia | 1 |
| | | Senegal | 0 |

### Final
## Statistics and awards
### Player of the Tournament

    1 Rabah Madjer (76 pts)
    2 Tahar Chérif El-Ouazzani
    3 Djamel Menad
    – Rashidi Yekini
    – Webster Chikabala

### CAF Team of the Tournament

| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Antar Osmani | Ali Benhalima André Kana-Biyik Arsène Hobou Samuel Chomba | Djamel Amani Rabah Madjer Tahar Chérif El-Ouazzani Moses Kpakor | Djamel Menad Webster Chikabala |

### Goalscorers

There were 30 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 1.88 goals per match.
4 goals
* Djamel Menad
3 goals
* Djamel Amani
* Rashidi Yekini
2 goals
* Rabah Madjer
* Chérif Oudjani
* Emmanuel Maboang
* Abdoulaye Traoré
* Webster Chikabala
1 goal
* Tahar Chérif El-Ouazzani
* Moussa Saïb
* Serge Maguy
* Adel Abdel Rahman
* Uche Okechukwu
* Emmanuel Okocha
* Mamadou Diallo
* Moussa N'Dao
* Linos Makwaza
1 own goal
* Abdelhakim Serrar (against Senegal)