2015 Africa Cup of Nations

The  **2015 Africa Cup of Nations**, known as the **Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015** for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international football championship of Africa. It was organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was held from 17 January to 8 February 2015.

The tournament was initially scheduled to be hosted by Morocco who later demanded postponement of the event because of the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa; subsequently Morocco was ruled out as a host country and replaced by Equatorial Guinea.

The Ivory Coast won the tournament for their second Africa Cup of Nations title, defeating Ghana 9–8 in a penalty shoot-out after the final finished goalless following extra time. The DR Congo came third and the hosts Equatorial Guinea fourth, while defending champions Nigeria did not qualify.

## Qualification

Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Qualification for the tournament were made up of four stages, three preliminary rounds and a final group stage. The 21 best-ranked teams were given a bye to the group stage, while the next 26 teams began play in the second preliminary round, and four lowest ranked teams started at the first round. The three preliminary rounds were a series of playoffs, with the winners advancing.

51 nations entered the tournament (excluding initial hosts Morocco). It was the competitive debut of South Sudan. Djibouti and Somalia declined to enter.

Morocco would have automatically qualified as hosts; however, after their refusal to host, they were expelled from the tournament by the CAF. Equatorial Guinea was chosen as the new host, and despite having played in the qualifiers and been disqualified due to fielding an ineligible player, they qualified for the tournament automatically.

The defending champions Nigeria failed to qualify for the tournament.

### Qualified teams

The following sixteen teams qualified for the tournament.

1 **Bold** indicates champion for that year.
2 *Italic* indicates host for that year.

## Venues

The four Equatorial Guinean cities selected to host the tournament were Malabo, Bata, Mongomo and Ebebiyín.

Malabo and Bata were also host venues for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Screening for Ebola was given to all spectators attending matches.

## Draw

The finals draw was held on 3 December 2014 in Malabo. It was initially to be held on 26 November 2014 in Rabat before the change of host country.

The 16 teams were divided into four pots based on the CAF Ranking, with the hosts Equatorial Guinea placed in Pot 1 automatically. The ranking was computed using the teams' results in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers (weighted by 2), 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 3) and qualifiers (weighted by 1), the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 2) and qualifiers (weighted by 0.5), the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 1), and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

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## Squads

Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations squads

Each team could register a squad of 23 players.

## Group stage

The group winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals.

Tiebreakers
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
4. If, after applying criteria 1 to 3 to teams concerned, two or three teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between these teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 7 will apply;
5. Goal difference in all games;
6. Goals scored in all games;
7. Drawing of lots.

### Group A

Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A
Template:2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A table

### Group B

Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group B
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### Group C

Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group C
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### Group D

Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group D

Guinea and Mali finished level on the second spot after the group stage, making the first drawing of lots needed at the tournament since 1988. Unlike some other international tournaments, 2015 Africa Cup of Nations tournament regulations would not use fair-play criteria or a penalty shoot-out after the teams met on the last match day to determine the final group ranking. Both head coaches have openly criticised the regulations.

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## Knockout stage

Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations knockout stage

In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, extra time shall be played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by kicks from the penalty mark to determine the winner, except for the play-off for third place where no extra time shall be played.

On 27 January 2015, the CAF announced that they had relocated the venues of two of the quarter-finals:

* The venue of quarter-final 2 is relocated from Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyín, Ebebiyín to Estadio de Bata, Bata.
* The venue of quarter-final 3 is relocated from Estadio de Mongomo, Mongomo to Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo.

The kick-off time of quarter-finals 2 and 4 are also changed from 20:00 to 20:30 local time.

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Scores after extra time are indicated by (a.e.t.), and penalty shoot-out are indicated by (pen.).

All times local, WAT (UTC+1).

### Quarter-finals

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### Semi-finals

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### Third place play-off

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Note: no extra-time was played

### Final

Main article: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final
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## Statistics

### Goalscorers

3 goals
Template:Div col

* Template:Flagicon Thievy Bifouma
* Template:Flagicon Dieumerci Mbokani
* Template:Flagicon Javier Balboa
* Template:Flagicon André Ayew
* Template:Flagicon Ahmed Akaïchi

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2 goals
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* Template:Flagicon Jeremy Bokila
* Template:Flagicon Christian Atsu
* Template:Flagicon Wilfried Bony
* Template:Flagicon Gervinho
* Template:Flagicon Max Gradel

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1 goal
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* Template:Flagicon Nabil Bentaleb
* Template:Flagicon Faouzi Ghoulam
* Template:Flagicon Riyad Mahrez
* Template:Flagicon Islam Slimani
* Template:Flagicon El Arbi Hillel Soudani
* Template:Flagicon Aristide Bancé
* Template:Flagicon Benjamin Moukandjo
* Template:Flagicon Ambroise Oyongo
* Template:Flagicon Héldon
* Template:Flagicon Férébory Doré
* Template:Flagicon Fabrice Ondama
* Template:Flagicon Prince Oniangue
* Template:Flagicon Yannick Bolasie
* Template:Flagicon Joël Kimwaki
* Template:Flagicon Emilio Nsue
* Template:Flagicon Ibán Edú
* Template:Flagicon Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
* Template:Flagicon Malick Evouna
* Template:Flagicon Kwesi Appiah
* Template:Flagicon Jordan Ayew
* Template:Flagicon John Boye
* Template:Flagicon Asamoah Gyan
* Template:Flagicon Wakaso Mubarak
* Template:Flagicon Kévin Constant
* Template:Flagicon Ibrahima Traoré
* Template:Flagicon Mohamed Yattara
* Template:Flagicon Seydou Doumbia
* Template:Flagicon Wilfried Kanon
* Template:Flagicon Yaya Touré
* Template:Flagicon Bakary Sako
* Template:Flagicon Modibo Maïga
* Template:Flagicon Sambou Yatabaré
* Template:Flagicon Mame Biram Diouf
* Template:Flagicon Kara Mbodj
* Template:Flagicon Moussa Sow
* Template:Flagicon Oupa Manyisa
* Template:Flagicon Mandla Masango
* Template:Flagicon Thuso Phala
* Template:Flagicon Yassine Chikhaoui
* Template:Flagicon Mohamed Ali Moncer
* Template:Flagicon Emmanuel Mayuka
* Template:Flagicon Given Singuluma

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1 own goal
* Template:Flagicon Thulani Hlatshwayo (playing against Algeria)

### Awards

Pepsi Highest Scorer
* Template:Flagicon André Ayew

Orange Man of the Competition
* Template:Flagicon Christian Atsu

Best Goalkeeper
* Template:Flagicon Sylvain Gbohouo

Nissan Goal of the tournament
* Template:Flagicon Christian Atsu vs. Guinea (3rd goal of the match)

Samsung Fair Player of the Tournament
* Template:Flagicon Kwesi Appiah

Fair Play of the tournament
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CAF Team of the Tournament

### Discipline

In the final tournament, a player was suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches. The disciplinary panel has the ability to increase the automatic one match ban for a red card (e.g. for violent conduct). Single yellow card cautions were erased at the conclusion of the group stage, and were not carried over to the knockout stage. The following players were or are suspended during the final tournament – for one or more games – as a result of red cards or yellow card accumulations:

## External links

* Orange Africa Cup Of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015, CAFonline.com

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