Libya and Tunisia qualified for the tournament, even as the Arab Spring brought upheaval and regime change to both nations.

[1] Traditional African footballing nations such as reigning champions Egypt (also affected by political events), as well as Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa had failed to qualify.

[3] Manager Hervé Renard dedicated their win to the members of the national team who died in a plane crash near the final's venue in Libreville in 1993.

The 2014 tournament was pushed forward to 2013 and subsequently held in odd-numbered years to avoid clashing with the FIFA World Cup.

[7] Togo appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepping in to mediate.

[8] On 30 June 2010, after Nigeria's exit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan punished the team for a poor campaign by imposing a two-year ban from international competition.

[11] The draw for the final tournament took place on 29 October 2011 at the Sipopo Conference Palace in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

The other 14 qualified teams were ranked based on their performances during the previous three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

[15] Mohamed Benouza Djamel Haimoudi Néant Alioum Noumandiez Doué Gehad Grisha Eric Otogo-Castane Bakary Gassama Hamada Nampiandraza Koman Coulibaly Ali Lemghaifry Rajindraparsad Seechurn Bouchaïb El Ahrach Badara Diatta Eddy Maillet Daniel Bennett Khalid Abdel Rahman Slim Jedidi Janny Sikazwe Albdelhak Etchiali Jean-Claude Birumushahu Evarist Menkouande Yanoussa Moussa Richard Bouende-Malonga Songuifolo Yeo Angesom Ogbamariam Theophile Vinga Aboubacar Doumbouya Marwa Range Moffat Champiti Balla Diarra Balkrishna Bootun Redouane Achik David Shaanika Peter Edibe Felicien Kabanda Djibril Camara Jason Damoo Zakhele Siwela Bechir Hassani Each team's squad for the tournament consisted of 23 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament.

For teams eliminated in the group stage, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings:[22] The mascot for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations was unveiled on 16 September 2011 at a ceremony in Libreville, Gabon.

The mascot, named Gaguie, is a gorilla sporting the national team colors of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.