# 1996 African Men's Handball Championship

The 1996 African Men's Handball Championship was the twelfth edition of the African Men's Handball Championship, held in Cotonou, Benin, from 18 to 27 October 1996. It acted as the African qualifying tournament for the 1997 World Championship in Japan.
Algeria win their sixth title beating Tunisia in the final game 21–19 after the first extra time of the history in the finals of the competition.

## Qualified teams

* Algeria
* Benin (hosts)
* Cameroon
* Chad (withdrew)
* Congo
* Egypt
* Ivory Coast
* Morocco
* Nigeria
* Togo
* Tunisia
* Zaire (withdrew)

## Venue

| Cotonou | Cotonou |
| Palais des Sports de Cotonou | Cotonou |
| Capacity: 5,000 | Cotonou |

## Group stage

* Team advance to the knockout stage

### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Tunisia | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 79 | +18 | 8 |
| Morocco | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 89 | 84 | +5 | 6 |
| Nigeria | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 99 | 89 | +10 | 4 |
| Ivory Coast | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 101 | 101 | 0 | 2 |
| Togo | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 66 | 99 | −33 | 0 |
| 18 October 1996 | Nigeria | 30–27 | Ivory Coast | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 18 October 1996 | | (15–11) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 18 October 1996 | Tunisia | 22–18 | Togo | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 18 October 1996 | | (17–8) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 19 October 1996 | Morocco | 22–17 | Togo | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 19 October 1996 | | (10–6) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 19 October 1996 | Tunisia | 23–22 | Nigeria | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 19 October 1996 | | (10–9) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 20 October 1996 | Tunisia | 30–21 | Ivory Coast | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 20 October 1996 | | (13–11) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 20 October 1996 | Morocco | 22–21 | Nigeria | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 20 October 1996 | | (11–8) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 21 October 1996 | Nigeria | 26–17 | Togo | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 21 October 1996 | | (12–5) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 21 October 1996 | Morocco | 27–24 | Ivory Coast | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 21 October 1996 | | (14–15) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 23 October 1996 | Tunisia | 22–18 | Morocco | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 23 October 1996 | | (12–6) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 23 October 1996 | Ivory Coast | 29–14 | Togo | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 23 October 1996 | | (16–5) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |

### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Algeria | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 95 | 61 | +34 | 8 |
| Egypt | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 102 | 73 | +29 | 6 |
| Congo | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 61 | 80 | −19 | 3 |
| Cameroon | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 86 | 91 | −5 | 2 |
| Benin (H) | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 63 | 102 | −39 | 1 |
| 18 October 1996 | Egypt | 30–18 | Benin | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 18 October 1996 | | (17–10) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 18 October 1996 | Algeria | 18–9 | Congo | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 18 October 1996 | | (7–6) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 19 October 1996 | Benin | 16–16 | Congo | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 19 October 1996 | | (7–7) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 19 October 1996 | Algeria | 23–19 | Cameroon | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 19 October 1996 | | (10–9) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 20 October 1996 | Egypt | 23–20 | Cameroon | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 20 October 1996 | | (10–10) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 20 October 1996 | Algeria | 29–10 | Benin | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 20 October 1996 | | (13–6) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 21 October 1996 | Egypt | 26–10 | Congo | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 21 October 1996 | | (13–4) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 21 October 1996 | Congo | 26–20 | Cameroon | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 21 October 1996 | | (16–11) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 23 October 1996 | Algeria | 25–23 | Egypt | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 23 October 1996 | | (12–17) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 23 October 1996 | Cameroon | 27–19 | Benin | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 23 October 1996 | | (12–11) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |

## Knockout stage

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| 25 October – Cotonou | 25 October – Cotonou |
| Tunisia | 18 |
| Tunisia | 18 | 27 October – Cotonou | 27 October – Cotonou |
| Egypt | 16 | 27 October – Cotonou | 27 October – Cotonou |
| Egypt | 16 | Tunisia | 19 |
| 25 October – Cotonou | 25 October – Cotonou | | Tunisia | 19 |
| 25 October – Cotonou | 25 October – Cotonou | Algeria (ET) | 21 |
| Algeria | 24 | Algeria (ET) | 21 |
| Morocco | 16 | | |
| Morocco | 16 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 27 October – Cotonou | 27 October – Cotonou |
| | | Morocco | 21 |
| | | Egypt | 28 |

### Semifinals

| 25 October 1996 | Tunisia | 18–16 | Egypt | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 25 October 1996 | | (9–9) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 25 October 1996 | Algeria | 24–16 | Morocco | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 25 October 1996 | | (11–6) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |

### Ninth place game

| 26 October 1996 | Benin | 26–25 | Togo | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 26 October 1996 | | (11–13) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |

### Seventh place game

| 26 October 1996 | Cameroon | 28–27 | Ivory Coast | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 26 October 1996 | | (11–15) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |

### Fifth place game

| 26 October 1996 | Nigeria | 26–22 | Congo | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 26 October 1996 | | (12–9) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |

### Third place game

| 27 October 1996 | Morocco | 21–28 | Egypt | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 27 October 1996 | | (13–18) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |

### Final

| 27 October 1996 | Tunisia | 19–21 (ET) | Algeria | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| 27 October 1996 | | (7–8) | | Palais des Sports, Cotonou |
| Palais des Sports, Cotonou |||

## Final ranking

* Team qualified for the 1997 World Championship
| Rank | Team |
| | Algeria |
| | Tunisia |
| | Egypt |
| 4 | Morocco |
| 5 | Nigeria |
| 6 | Congo |
| 7 | Cameroon |
| 8 | Ivory Coast |
| 9 | Benin |
| 10 | Togo |