Cameroon as title holder and Tunisia as host country automatically qualified for the final phase of the tournament.

The organization of the 2004 edition was awarded to Tunisia on 4 September 2000 by the CAF Executive Committee meeting in Cairo, Egypt.

[5] The main host cities are concentrated on the country's coastal strip: Bizerte, Monastir, Sousse, Sfax and the capital Tunis.

[7] The stadium obtains the Class 1 Certificate from the World Athletics,[8] which means that it reaches the best standards and specifications in its field.

Cameroon, as defending champion, and Tunisia, as host country, are automatically qualified for the final phase of the competition.

[24] As is the case in all versions of the African Cup of Nations, each team participating in the tournament must consist of 23 players (including three goalkeepers).

Participating national teams must confirm the final list of 23 players no later than ten days before the start of the tournament.

During the final, on 14 February 2004 at Stade 7 November in Radès in front of 60,000 supporters,[59] Tunisia got off to a good start with a lead 1–0 after four minutes with Mehdi Nafti centered on Francileudo Santos, who scored his fourth goal of the tournament.

At the end of the first half, Morocco came back to score with a goal from Youssouf Hadji on a lift from Youssef Mokhtari.

[60] Khaled Badra and Riadh Bouazizi lifted the trophy after receiving it from President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Roger Lemerre also becomes the first coach to win two different continental tournaments after having previously won the UEFA Euro 2000 with France.

Compensation was also provided to help the various federations, calculated according to the length of each team's stay in Tunisia and based on a daily lump sum of 6 euros per player and coach.

To choose the tournament mascot, the organizing committee is launching a competition open to the entire Tunisian population.

I then had to change a few details requested by the organizing committee.The official ball for the 2004 African Cup of Nations is the Adidas Fevernova.