1994 African Cup of Nations facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
1994 African Cup of Nations

Tournament details
Host country	Tunisia
Dates	26 March – 10 April
Teams	12
Venue(s)	3 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Nigeria (2nd title)
Runners-up	Zambia
Third place	Ivory Coast
Fourth place	Mali
Tournament statistics
Matches played	20
Goals scored	44 (2.2 per match)
Attendance	273,000 (13,650 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Rashidi Yekini (5 goals)
Best player	Rashidi Yekini
← 1992 1996 →

The 1994 African Cup of Nations was a big football tournament in Africa. It was the 19th time this event was held. The games took place from March 26 to April 10. Tunisia was the host country. Twelve different teams from Africa played in the competition.

Nigeria won the tournament. It was their second time winning this important title. They beat Zambia with a score of 2–1 in the final game. The Zambian team had many new players. This was because of a sad plane accident a few months before.

About the 1994 African Cup of Nations

How Teams Qualified

To play in the African Cup of Nations, teams first had to qualify. This means they played special games to earn a spot in the main tournament. Twelve teams made it to the final stage in Tunisia. Here are the teams that qualified:

Playing in Groups: The Group Stage

In the group stage, the 12 teams were divided into four groups. Each group had three teams. Teams in the same group played against each other. The top two teams from each group moved on to the next part of the tournament. This next part is called the knockout stage.

Teams shown in green in the tables below moved on to the quarter-finals.

Group A Matches

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Zaire	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	3
2	Mali	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1	2
3	Tunisia	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2	1

Group B Matches

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Egypt	2	1	1	0	4	0	+4	3
2	Nigeria	2	1	1	0	3	0	+3	3
3	Gabon	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7	0

Group C Matches

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Zambia	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	3
2	Ivory Coast	2	1	0	1	4	1	+3	2
3	Sierra Leone	2	0	1	1	0	4	−4	1

Group D Matches

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Ghana	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2	4
2	Senegal	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	2
3	Guinea	2	0	0	2	1	3	−2	0

The Knockout Rounds

After the group stage, the tournament moved to the knockout stage. In these rounds, if a team lost a game, they were out of the competition. This made every match very exciting!

Quarter-Finals: The First Knockout

2 April 1994	Zaire	0–2	Nigeria	Stade El Menzah, Tunis Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius)
			Yekini  51', 71' (pen.)

2 April 1994	Egypt	0–1	Mali	Stade El Menzah, Tunis Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Charles Masembe (Uganda)
			S. Traoré  64'

3 April 1994	Zambia	1–0	Senegal	Stade Olympique de Sousse, Sousse Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Jamal Al-Sharif (Syria)
	Sakala  38'

3 April 1994	Ghana	1–2	Ivory Coast	Stade Olympique de Sousse, Sousse Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Ali Bujsaim (UAE)
	Akonnor  77'		Tiéhi  30' A. Traoré  81'

Semi-Finals: Getting Closer to the Final

6 April 1994	Nigeria	2–2 (a.e.t)	Ivory Coast	Stade El Menzah, Tunis Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Ali Bujsaim (UAE)
	Iroha  26' Yekini  40'		Bassolé  19', 31'
		Penalties
	Finidi Siasia Amokachi Iroha Yekini	4–2	Kouamé Fallet Bassolé Amani

6 April 1994	Zambia	4–0	Mali	Stade El Menzah, Tunis Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Charles Masembe (Uganda)
	Litana  8' Saileti  30' K. Bwalya  47' Malitoli  73'

Third Place Match

10 April 1994	Ivory Coast	3–1	Mali	Stade El Menzah, Tunis Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Petros Mathabela (South Africa)
	Koné  2' Ouattara  67' Sie  70'		Diallo  46'

The Grand Final Match

10 April 1994	Nigeria	2–1	Zambia	Stade El Menzah, Tunis Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius)
	Amuneke  5', 47'		Litana  3'

Top Goal Scorers

5 goals

• Rashidi Yekini

4 goals

• Joël Tiéhi

2 goals

1 goal

Images for kids

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  Participating nations

See also

In Spanish: Copa Africana de Naciones 1994 para niños