Zambia/Nigeria: Nigeria Vs Zambia, Four Other Memorable Afcon Finals

16 January 2026
Vanguard (Lagos)

There have been 32 Africa Cup of Nations finals and AFP Sport selects five of the most memorable ahead of the 2025 title decider between hosts Morocco and Senegal in Rabat on Sunday:

Ethiopia 4 Egypt 2

The final with the most goals, and plenty of excitement as 1962 hosts Ethiopia equalised twice against defending champions Egypt, then scored twice in extra time for their only AFCON title. Mengistu Worku was the hero in a match watched by a 30,000 crowd crammed into an Addis Ababa stadium. He snatched the second equaliser with six minutes of regular time remaining and the fourth goal with two minutes of extra time left.

Congo 3 Mali 2

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Congo Brazzaville scored three times in seven minutes either side of the hour mark to tilt the 1972 title decider in their favour in Yaounde. Mali led 1-0 at half-time in a showdown between first-time finalists before Jean-Michel M'Bono struck twice for the Congolese in two minutes. Francois M'Pele stretched the lead and was later voted the outstanding player at the first AFCON staged in central Africa.

Nigeria 2 Zambia 1

Zambia defied the odds to reach the 1994 final in Tunis less than a year after 18 of the national squad died when their plane crashed off the Gabonese coast while en route to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier. Zambian Elijah Litana scored after only three minutes in front of a 25,000 crowd. Emmanuel Amunike levelled just two minutes later and netted again early in the second half to give the Super Eagles a second AFCON title.

South Africa 2 Tunisia 0

Hosts South Africa won the 1996 final in front of a capacity 80,000 Johannesburg crowd just four years after returning to international football following the lifting of an apartheid-induced ban. Then President Nelson Mandela and the last white ruler of the country, FW de Klerk, saw substitute striker Mark Williams score twice. He broke the deadlock eight minutes after coming off the bench and struck again almost immediately.

Zambia 0 Ivory Coast 0

Outsiders Zambia pulled off a shock triumph in the 2012 final by defeating Didier Drogba-captained Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties after a 0-0 draw. Drogba blazed a regular-time penalty over the bar and Kolo Toure and Gervinho missed in the shoot-out before defender Stoppila Sunzu converted the winning spot-kick. Succeeding in Libreville was particularly poignant for Zambia as the 1993 air crash occurred not far from the final venue.

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