Cameroon were the original hosts of the final tournament and would have been guaranteed of qualification regardless of their ranking; the matches of the team would have counted in determining the qualification of the other teams, and only the top team apart from Cameroon would have qualified for the final tournament. However, on 30 November 2018, Cameroon were stripped of hosting the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. due to the Boko Haram insurgency and the Anglophone Crisis.