[1] The tournament was originally the Gossage Cup, contested by the four nations of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zanzibar,[2] running from 1929 until 1965.

Uganda, the hosts, won the Cup, beating Tanzania 2–1 in the final.

The tournament lacked a third-place play-off, so the runners-up in the group stages, Kenya and Zambia, shared third place.

After the end of the scheduled matches in group A, Uganda and Zanzibar were level on the traditional deciders listed below, so to decide which team qualified for the final a play-off was arranged, won by Uganda.

[1] If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order):