South Africa who were originally scheduled to join, but all were disqualified due to the apartheid policies of the government then in power.

There was no qualification for this tournament, the field being made up of the four founding nations of CAF (Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and South Africa).

South Africa's insistence on selecting only white players for its squad due to its apartheid policy led to its disqualification, and as a consequence Ethiopia were handed a bye straight to the final.

[8] Hence only two matches were played, with Egypt being crowned as the first continental champion after defeating hosts Sudan in the semi-final by 2–1 and Ethiopia in the final by a score of 4–0.

Host Ethiopia and reigning champion Egypt received automatic berths and were joined in the final four by Nigeria and Tunisia.

Between 1980 and 1990, Cameroon managed to reach the final of the Africa Cup three times in a row, winning the competition twice in 1984 and 1988 and losing once on penalties against Egypt in the 1986 edition, the other dominant team during this period was Algeria, along with their solid 1982 and decent 1986 World Cup appearances, the North African nation lost in the final against hosts Nigeria in the 1980 tournament allowing the Super Eagles to capture their first championship.

The match ended in a 1–1 draw after 120 minutes and Ghana national football team won the penalty shootout to become champions.

Ghanaian midfielder Abedi "Pele" Ayew, who scored three goals, was named the best player of the tournament after his contributions helped Ghana reach the final; he was, however, suspended for that match and Ghana lost to Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout that saw each side make 11 attempts to determine the winner.

Ivory Coast set a record for the competition by holding each of their opponents scoreless in the six matches of the final tournament.

South Africa hosted the 20th ACN competition in 1996, marking its first ever appearance after a decades-long ban was lifted with the end of apartheid in the country, which had been followed by a failed attempt to qualify in 1994.

[12] The South Africans would reach the final again two years later in Burkina Faso, but were unable to defend their title, losing to Egypt who claimed their fourth cup.

The Cameroonians beat first-time finalists Senegal, who also debuted in the World Cup later that year, via penalty kicks.

Both finalists were eliminated in the quarter-finals two years later in Tunisia, where the hosts won their first title, beating Morocco 2–1 in the final.

[13] In January 2008, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced that he wanted the tournament to be held in either June or July by 2016, to fit in the international calendar, although this would preclude many countries in central and west Africa from hosting the competition (for these months occur during their wet season).

[15] Egypt set a new record in the 2010 tournament (hosted by Angola) by winning its third consecutive title in an unprecedented achievement on the African level after defeating Ghana 1–0 in the final, retaining the gold-plated cup indefinitely and extending its record to seven continental titles (including when Egypt was known as UAR between 1958 and 1961).

This drew increased media attention since the match took place in Gabon, only a few hundred meters from the crash site of the 1993 air disaster of their national team.

[20] All football activities in Liberia were suspended,[21] and the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia was converted into an Ebola treatment unit.

[22] The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations was scheduled to be held in Morocco, but they refused to hold the tournament on the allotted dates due to concerns of the Ebola outbreak, so it was moved to Equatorial Guinea.

[23] In July 2016, Total secured the rights to an eight-year sponsorship package to support 10 of CAF's principal competitions.

In July 2017, two changes were proposed:[25][26] switching the timing of the competition from January to the Northern Hemisphere summer and expanding from 16 to 24 teams (effective from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations).

[28][29] Match days 3 and 4 of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, which was slated from 25 to 30 March 2020, were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The qualification phase has evolved over time according to the increasing number of nations affiliated to the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

In 1962, new nations were affiliated and forced CAF to set up a qualifying phase for the final tournament in the form of knockout matches.

[34] It was given to CAF by the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa prior to the 1980 tournament and it was a cylindrical piece with the Olympic rings over a map of the continent engraved on it.

Unlike previous winners who would have then taken the trophy home, Egypt was presented with a special full-size replica that they were allowed to keep.