Five Africa Cup Of Nations Facts

Sat, 13 Apr 2019

Africa

SAT, 13 APR 2019

Egypt goalkeeper Essam el Hadary is the oldest player at 45 to feature in an Africa Cup of Nations finals match. By KHALED DESOUKI (AFP/File)

Five Africa Cup of Nations facts after draw for 2019 tournament was made in Cairo Friday:

-- Egypt will be hosts for a record fifth time. They previously staged the Cup of Nations in 1959, 1974, 1986 and 2006, winning three of those four tournaments and finishing third in the other.

-- Only three countries, hosts Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia, took part in the first tournament in February 1957 and there was no qualifying competition.

-- The most successful country has been Egypt with seven titles followed by Cameroon (five), Ghana (four), Nigeria (three) and the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ivory Coast (two each).

-- Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o is the leading overall Cup of Nations scorer, notching 18 goals in six tournaments between 2000 and 2010.

-- Egypt goalkeeper Essam el Hadary became the oldest player at 44 years and 21 days to feature in the tournament when he faced Cameroon in the 2017 final in Libreville.