The African Nations Championship (sometimes referred to as African Championship of Nations or CHAN) is a football tournament which was first announced on 11 September 2007 It is administered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF)

Confederation of African Football

The Confederation of African Football is the administrative and controlling body for African association football.CAF represents the national football associations of Africa, runs continental, national, and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those...

 and is played between the best national teams of Africa, exclusively featuring players who are active in the national championships and qualified to play in the ongoing season. Expatriate players, regardless of where they play, even in Africa, may not qualify to take part in the African Championship of Nations.

The first tournament was held in 2009. It was hosted by Côte d'Ivoire and won by The Democratic Republic of the Congo. The competition was expanded to 16 teams for the second tournament, held in Sudan in 2011. The tournament was won by Tunisia

Tunisia national football team

The Tunisia national football team , nicknamed Les Aigles de Carthage , is the national team of Tunisia and is controlled by the Fédération Tunisienne de Football. They have qualified for four FIFA World Cups, the first one in 1978, but have yet to make it out of the first round...

, in the wake of the Tunisian Revolution

Tunisian revolution

The Tunisian Revolution is an intensive campaign of civil resistance, including a series of street demonstrations taking place in Tunisia. The events began in December 2010 and led to the ousting of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011...

.

The tournament is held every two years, alternating with the Africa Cup of Nations. The qualifying phase takes place every even year and the final every odd year.

Tournament Formation

The creation of the African Nations Championship was a response to the desire to revive or strengthen national competitions regularly weakened by a mass exodus of top players who leave their home countries to play for foreign teams which will pay more and get them more media coverage.

CAF hopes that the players in the national competitions can experience the joy of the selection, and to one day integrate the selection with that of the Cup of African Nations.

Qualifying

The eight tournament spots are allocated the following way:

• One each for North Zone, West A Zone, West B Zone, Centre Zone and East Zone
• Two for the South Zone
• One for the host country of the final tournament

Now 16 teams qualified for the tournement.

Tournament Format

Only one team can qualify for the tournament from each group, the exception being South Zone which is allowed two teams. The competition hosts automatically qualify. In total, eight nations will compete in the full tournament.

Once qualified for the competition, there are two Pools — A and B — drawn at random; each pool consists of four nations.

The third- and fourth-placed teams in each pool are eliminated. The winner of group A plays the runner up of group B, and the winner of group B plays the runner up of group A. A third place playoff is played between the two nations who lost the semifinal games.

The final match is played between the winners of the semifinal games.

On 8 March 2009, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

 defeated Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

 2–0 to become the first winner of the tournament.

Results

Year	Host nation	Final			Third Place Match
		Champion	Score	Second Place	Third Place	Score	Fourth Place
2009 Details	Cote d'Ivoire Côte d'Ivoire The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...		2 – 0			2 – 1
2011 Details 2011 African Nations Championship The 2011 African Nations Championship was the second edition of the African Nations Championship tournament. Each participating nation was represented by players who play in their respective local divisions. The competition was hosted in Sudan from February 4 to 25, 2011...	Sudan Sudan Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...		3 – 0			1 – 0
2014 Details 2014 African Nations Championship The 2014 African Nations Championship will be the third edition of the African Nations Championship in football. The tournament will take place in South Africa.Originally, the tournament was to be hosted in Libya.-Qualified nations:...	South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...		–			–
2016 Details	Rwanda Rwanda Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...		–			–

Most successful national teams

Team	Champions	Runners-up	Third-place	Fourth-place
	1 (2009)	-	-	-
	1 (2011)	-	-	-
	-	1 (2011)	-	-
	-	1 (2009)	-	-
	-	-	1 (2011)	-
	-	-	1 (2009)	-
	-	-	-	1 (2011)
	-	-	-	1 (2009)

Tournament appearances

Appearances	Nation
2
1

Participating nations

Team	2009	2011 2011 African Nations Championship The 2011 African Nations Championship was the second edition of the African Nations Championship tournament. Each participating nation was represented by players who play in their respective local divisions. The competition was hosted in Sudan from February 4 to 25, 2011...	2014 2014 African Nations Championship The 2014 African Nations Championship will be the third edition of the African Nations Championship in football. The tournament will take place in South Africa.Originally, the tournament was to be hosted in Libya.-Qualified nations:...	2016	Years
		4th			1
		2nd			1
		QF			1
	1st	QF			2
	GS	GS			2
		GS			1
	2nd	GS			2
	GS				1
		GS			1
		QF			1
		GS			1
	4th	GS			2
		QF			1
		3rd			1
	GS				1
		1st			1
		GS			1
	3rd				1
	GS	GS			2
Total

Legend

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place
• QF – Quarter Finals
• GS – Group stage
• q – Qualified
•     — Hosts

External links

• Confédération Africaine de Football
• Explanation of format (French)