# 1974 African Cup of Nations

The 1974 African Cup of Nations was the ninth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (CAF). It was hosted by Egypt.
Just like in 1972, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. Zaire won its second championship (their first win came as Congo-Kinshasa), tying Zambia 2−2 in the final and beating them 2−0 in the replay. Zaire went on to compete in the World Cup later that year. Both finalists were 2 best teams in African qualification to 1974 World Cup.

## Qualified teams

The 8 qualified teams are:
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament |
| Egypt | Hosts | | 5 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1970) |
| Congo | Holders | 5 March 1972 | 2 (1968 1972) |
| Guinea | 2nd round winners | 14 June 1973 | 1 (1970) |
| Mauritius | 2nd round winners | 14 June 1973 | 0 (debut) |
| Uganda | 2nd round winners | 14 June 1973 | 2 (1962, 1968) |
| Zaire | 2nd round winners | 14 June 1973 | 4 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1972) |
| Zambia | 2nd round winners | 29 July 1973 | 0 (debut) |
| Ivory Coast | 2nd round winners | 23 September 1973 | 3 (1965, 1968, 1970) |

### Notes

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

## Venues

| Cairo | CairoAlexandriaEl-MahallaDamanhour | Alexandria |
| Cairo International Stadium | CairoAlexandriaEl-MahallaDamanhour | Alexandria Stadium |
| Capacity: 95,000 | CairoAlexandriaEl-MahallaDamanhour | Capacity: 13,660 |
| El-Mahalla El-Kubra | CairoAlexandriaEl-MahallaDamanhour | Damanhour |
| El Mahalla Stadium | CairoAlexandriaEl-MahallaDamanhour | Ala'ab Damanhour Stadium |
| Capacity: 29,000 | CairoAlexandriaEl-MahallaDamanhour | Capacity: 8,000 |

## 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 | Egypt (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Zambia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Uganda | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 1 | |
| 4 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 1 | |
* 1 2 Tied on head-to-head points. Overall goal difference: Uganda –2, Ivory Coast −3.

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Congo | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Zaire | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Guinea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Mauritius | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 0 | |

## Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 9 March – Cairo | 9 March – Cairo |
| Egypt | 2 |
| Egypt | 2 | 12 & 14 March – Cairo | 12 & 14 March – Cairo |
| Zaire | 3 | 12 & 14 March – Cairo | 12 & 14 March – Cairo |
| Zaire | 3 | Zaire (replay) | 2 (2) |
| 9 March – Alexandria | 9 March – Alexandria | | Zaire (replay) | 2 (2) |
| 9 March – Alexandria | 9 March – Alexandria | Zambia | 2 (0) |
| Congo | 2 | Zambia | 2 (0) |
| Zambia (a.e.t.) | 4 | | |
| Zambia (a.e.t.) | 4 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 11 March – Cairo | 11 March – Cairo |
| | | Egypt | 4 |
| | | Congo | 0 |

### Final
#### Replay
## Goalscorers

There were 54 goals scored in 17 matches, for an average of 3.18 goals per match.
9 goals
* Ndaye Mulamba
4 goals
* Ali Abo Greisha
3 goals
* Stanley Mubiru
* Mayanga Maku
* Bernard Chanda
2 goals
* Jacques Ndomba
* Ali Khalil
* Simon Kaushi
* Hassan Shehata
* Morciré Sylla
* Kobinan Kouman
* Daniel Imbert
1 goal
* Sebastien Lakou
* Jean-Michel M'Bono
* Noël Minga
* Paul Moukila
* François M'Pelé
* Gamal Abdel Azim
* Hassan El-Shazly
* Moustafa Abdou
* Taha Basry
* Bengally Sylla
* Kakoko Etepé
* Joseph Mapulanga
* Edenté
* Kidumu Mantantu
* Godfrey Chitalu
* Obby Kapita
* Brighton Sinyangwe
1 own goal
* Ilunga Mwepu (against Egypt)

## CAF Team of the tournament

Goalkeeper
* Kazadi Mwamba
Defenders
* Gabriel Dengaki
* Dick Chama
* Lobilo Boba
* Hany Moustafa
Midfielders
* Ndaye Mulamba
* Farouk Gaafar
* Hassan Shehata
* Mayanga Maku
Forwards
* Kakoko Etepé
* Ali Abo Greisha