By: Mariam Elhamy
This is the fifth time Egypt has hosted the games since 1957, but we’ve broken quite a few records along the way! Did you know an Egyptian player was the first to score a hat-trick goal in the games?! Check out these 8 facts about Egypt and our role in the Africa Cup of Nations!
1 – Egypt will host the games for the fifth time. They previously hosted the Cup of Nations in 1959, 1974, 1986 and 2006, winning three out of these four tournaments and finishing third in the fourth.
2 – Only three countries, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia took part in the first tournament in 1957 and there was no qualifying competition.
3 –Egypt has won the most number of times, securing seven titles, followed by Cameroon (five times), Ghana (four times), Nigeria (three times) and the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ivory Coast (two times each).
4 – Egypt goalkeeper Essam el Hadary became the oldest player to compete in the games at 44 years when he competed in the 2017 games.
5– Coach Hassan Shehata has led the Egypt team to victory three times in 2006, 2008, and 2010.
6 -Player Ahmed Hassan had competed in the games eight times: in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010.
7 – Ad-Diba is the first player to score a hat-trick in the African Cup of Nations during the final game of the 1957 tournament.
8 – Countries can only keep the current model of trophy if they win three titles, which Egypt did in 2010.
