# Amílcar Cabral Cup

The Amílcar Cabral Cup was an international association football tournament for Western African nations. The competition originally was played on an annual basis until 1989, since then it was played on a biennial basis.
The tournament is named after Amílcar Cabral. There has been no edition since 2007. Mauritania was to host in 2009, then rescheduled the tournament to 2010 and later cancelled it altogether.

## History

In 1970 a predecessor tournament was started. The Tournoi de la Zone II organized by the Conseil Supérieur du Sport en Afrique (CSSA) was held five times until 1977 with Mali winning three and Guinea winning two titles.

## Participant Nations

The following eight teams have regularly participated in the tournament. The teams are all in Confederation of African Football's (CAF) Zone 2, i.e. Western Africa. In some years, when a team withdrew a guest team was invited, like Benin in 2001.
| Cape Verde  Gambia  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau | Mali  Mauritania  Senegal  Sierra Leone |

## Results

| Year | Host | Final | Final | Final | Third Place Match | Third Place Match | Third Place Match |
| Year | Host | Champion | Score | Second Place | Third Place | Score | Fourth Place |
| 1979 Details | Guinea-Bissau | Senegal | 1–0 | Mali | Guinea | 2–2 (5–4) pk | Guinea-Bissau |
| 1980 Details | The Gambia | Senegal | 1–0 | Gambia | Guinea | w/o | Mauritania |
| 1981 Details | Mali | Guinea | 0–0 (6–5) pk | Mali | Senegal | 5–1 | Cape Verde |
| 1982 Details | Cape Verde Islands | Guinea | 3–0 | Senegal | Mali | 2–1 | Cape Verde |
| 1983 Details | Mauritania | Senegal | 3–0 | Guinea-Bissau | Mali | 2–0 | Mauritania |
| 1984 Details | Sierra Leone | Senegal | 0–0 (5–4) pk | Sierra Leone | Mali | 2–0 | Gambia |
| 1985 Details | The Gambia | Senegal | 1–0 | Gambia | Mali | 1–0 | Cape Verde |
| 1986 Details | Senegal | Senegal | 3–1 | Sierra Leone | Third place match not played | Third place match not played | Third place match not played |
| 1987 Details | Guinea | Guinea | 1–0 | Mali | Senegal | 0–0 (3–0) pk | Sierra Leone |
| 1988 Details | Guinea-Bissau | Guinea | 0–0 (3–2) pk | Mali | Senegal | 2–1 | Sierra Leone |
| 1989 Details | Mali | Mali | 3–0 | Guinea | Cape Verde | 1–0 | Sierra Leone |
| 1991 Details | Senegal | Senegal | 1–0 | Cape Verde | Third place match not played | Third place match not played | Third place match not played |
| 1993 Details | Sierra Leone | Sierra Leone | 2–0 | Senegal | Gambia | 2–0 | Mali |
| 1995 Details | Mauritania | Sierra Leone | 0–0 (4–3) pk | Mauritania | Cape Verde | 1–0 | Guinea-Bissau |
| 1997 Details | The Gambia | Mali | 1–0 | Senegal | Guinea | 2–2 (5–4) pk | Gambia |
| 2000 Details | Cape Verde Islands | Cape Verde | 1–0 | Senegal | Guinea | 2–0 | Mali |
| 2001 Details | Mali | Senegal U23 | 3–1 | Gambia | Mali | 2–1 | Guinea-Bissau |
| 2005 Details | Guinea | Guinea | 1–0 | Senegal U23 | Mali B | 1–0 | Guinea-Bissau |
| 2007 Details | Guinea-Bissau | Mali B | 2–1 | Cape Verde | Senegal U23 | 2–1 | Guinea-Bissau |
Note: There are contradictory reports of this match. According to the RSSSF page for the 1988 tournament, the match ended in 0–0 and Guinea won 4–2 on penalties. On a list of international matches of 1988, the match ended in 0–0 and Guinea won 3–2 on penalties. According to a head-to-head search between Guinea and Mali on FIFA website, Guinea won 3–2 in regular time.

### Most Amílcar Cabral Cup wins

| Wins | Nation | Year(s) |
| 8 times | Senegal | 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991, 2001 |
| 5 times | Guinea | 1981, 1982, 1987, 1988, 2005 |
| 3 times | Mali | 1989, 1997, 2007 |
| 2 times | Sierra Leone | 1993, 1995 |
| 1 time | Cape Verde | 2000 |

## Tournoi de la Zone II

Held from 1970 to 1977 under the hospicies of the Conseil Supérieur du Sport en Afrique (CSSA), the Tournoi de la Zone II was a predecessor tournament of the Amílcar Cabral Cup.
| Year | Host | Final | Final | Final | Third place match | Third place match | Third place match |
| Year | Host | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Third | Score | Fourth |
| 1970 | Bamako, Mali | Mali | | Guinea | Senegal | Senegal | Senegal |
| 1972 | Dakar, Senegal | Guinea | | Senegal | Gambia | | Mali |
| 1975 | Bissau, Guinea-Bissau | Guinea | 2–1 | Guinea-Bissau | No third place match | No third place match | No third place match |
| 1976 | Banjul, Gambia | Mali | 1–0 | Guinea | No third place match | No third place match | No third place match |
| 1977 | Bissau, Guinea-Bissau | Mali | | | | | |
    ^n/a A round-robin tournament determined the final standings.
    ^1 Senegal represented by ASFA Dakar.