# 1982 African Cup of Nations

The 1982 African Cup of Nations was the 13th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of African nations run by the CAF. It was hosted by Libya. Just like in 1980, there were eight teams, which were split into two groups of four. Ghana won its fourth championship, beating Libya on penalties 7−6 after a 1–1 draw.

## Qualified teams

The 8 qualified teams are:
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament |
| Libya | Hosts | | 0 (debut) |
| Nigeria | Holders | 22 March 1980 | 4 (1963, 1976, 1978, 1980) |
| Ghana | 2nd round winners | 2 August 1981 | 6 (1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1978, 1980) |
| Cameroon | 2nd round winners | 30 August 1981 | 2 (1970, 1972) |
| Zambia | 2nd round winners | 30 August 1981 | 2 (1974, 1978) |
| Algeria | 2nd round winners | 20 September 1981 | 2 (1968, 1980) |
| Ethiopia | 2nd round winners | 4 October 1981 | 8 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1976) |
| Tunisia | 2nd round winners | 1981 | 4 (1962, 1963, 1965, 1978) |

### Notes

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

## Venues

The competition was played in two venues in Tripoli and Benghazi.
| TripoliBenghazi | Tripoli |
| TripoliBenghazi | 11 June Stadium |
| TripoliBenghazi | Capacity: 88,000 |
| TripoliBenghazi | Benghazi |
| TripoliBenghazi | 28 March Stadium |
| TripoliBenghazi | Capacity: 55,000 |

## 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:
* Goal difference in all group matches
* Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
* Drawing of lots

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Libya (H) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 4 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 2 | Ghana | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 3 | Cameroon | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Tunisia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 | |

### Group B

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

## Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 16 March – Benghazi | 16 March – Benghazi |
| Ghana (a.e.t.) | 3 |
| Ghana (a.e.t.) | 3 | 19 March – Tripoli | 19 March – Tripoli |
| Algeria | 2 | 19 March – Tripoli | 19 March – Tripoli |
| Algeria | 2 | Ghana (pen.) | 1 (7) |
| 16 March – Tripoli | 16 March – Tripoli | | Ghana (pen.) | 1 (7) |
| 16 March – Tripoli | 16 March – Tripoli | Libya | 1 (6) |
| Libya | 2 | Libya | 1 (6) |
| Zambia | 1 | | |
| Zambia | 1 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 18 March – Tripoli | 18 March – Tripoli |
| | | Algeria | 0 |
| | | Zambia | 2 |

### Final
## Goalscorers

There were 32 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 2 goals per match.
4 goals
* George Alhassan
3 goals
* Ali Al-Beshari
* Peter Kaumba
2 goals
* Salah Assad
* Samuel Opoku Nti
* Stephen Keshi
* Godfrey Munshya
1 goal
* Chaabane Merzekane
* Djamel Zidane
* Grégoire Mbida
* John Essien
* Faraj Al-Barasi
* Fawzi Al-Issawi
* Abdel Razak Jaranah
* Ademola Adeshina
* Emmanuel Osigwe
* Aaron Njovu
* Kamel Gabsi
1 own goal
* Peter Fregene (against Zambia)
* Okey Isima (against Algeria)
* Kamel Seddik (against Libya)

## CAF Team of the Tournament

| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Thomas Nkono | Chaabane Merzekane Sampson Lamptey Haruna Yusif Ali Al-Beshari | George Alhassan Samuel Opoku Nti Emmanuel Quarshie Fawzi Al-Issawi | Salah Assad Rabah Madjer |