# 1972 African Cup of Nations

The 1972 African Cup of Nations was the eighth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (CAF). It was hosted by Cameroon, in the cities of Yaoundé and Douala. Just like in 1970, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. The People's Republic of the Congo won its first championship, beating Mali in the final 3−2.

## Qualified teams

For the first time, Ethiopia did not compete. The 8 qualified teams are:
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament |
| Cameroon | Hosts | | 1 (1970) |
| Sudan | Holders | 16 February 1970 | 4 (1957, 1959, 1963, 1970) |
| Morocco | 2nd round winners | 16 April 1971 | 0 (debut) |
| Togo | 2nd round winners | 20 June 1971 | 0 (debut) |
| Mali | 2nd round winners | 27 June 1971 | 0 (debut) |
| Congo | 2nd round winners | 18 July 1971 | 1 (1968) |
| Kenya | 2nd round winners | 18 July 1971 | 0 (debut) |
| Zaire | 2nd round winners | 27 October 1971 | 3 (1965, 1968, 1970) |

### Notes

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

## Venues

The competition was played in two venues in Yaoundé and Douala.
| Yaoundé | YaoundéDouala |
| Stade Omnisports | YaoundéDouala |
| Capacity: 38,720 | YaoundéDouala |
| Douala | YaoundéDouala |
| Stade de la Réunification | YaoundéDouala |
| Capacity: 30,000 | YaoundéDouala |

## 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 | Cameroon (H) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Mali | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Kenya | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Togo | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 2 | |

### Group B

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

## Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 2 March – Yaoundé | 2 March – Yaoundé |
| Cameroon | 0 |
| Cameroon | 0 | 5 March – Yaoundé | 5 March – Yaoundé |
| Congo | 1 | 5 March – Yaoundé | 5 March – Yaoundé |
| Congo | 1 | Congo | 3 |
| 2 March – Douala | 2 March – Douala | | Congo | 3 |
| 2 March – Douala | 2 March – Douala | Mali | 2 |
| Zaire | 3 | Mali | 2 |
| Mali (a.e.t.) | 4 | | |
| Mali (a.e.t.) | 4 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 4 March – Yaoundé | 4 March – Yaoundé |
| | | Cameroon | 5 |
| | | Zaire | 2 |

### Final
## Goalscorers

There were 53 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 3.31 goals per match.
5 goals
* Fantamady Keita
4 goals
* Jean-Michel M'Bono
3 goals
* Ahmed Faras
* Edmond Apéti Kaolo
* Mayanga Maku
* Jean Kalala N'Tumba
2 goals
* Jean-Baptiste N'Doga
* Paul-Gaston N'Dongo
* François M'Pelé
* Bako Touré
* Kakoko Etepé
1 goal
* Jean Paul Akono
* Simo Emmanuel Mvé
* François N'Doumbe
* Joseph Yegba Maya
* Philippe Michel Mouthé
* Norbert Owona
* Jonas Bahamboula
* Noël Birindi Minga
* Paul Moukila
* Daniel Arudhi Nicodémus
* Jonathan Niva
* Peter "Pelé" Ouma
* Adama Traoré
* Bakary Traoré
* Moussa Diakhité
* Moussa Traoré
* Bushara Abdel-Nadief
* Kamal Abdel Wahab
* Hasabu El-Sagheer
* Ahmed Bushara Wahba
* Covi Adé
* Gary Ngassebe

## Team of the tournament

Source:
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Allal Ben Kassou | Mohamed El-Sir Abdalla Bwanga Tshimen Paul N'lend Boujemaa Benkhrif | Mayanga Maku Noël Minga-Tchibinda Paul-Gaston N'Dongo Jean-Pierre Tokoto | Kakoko Etepé François M'Pelé |