2017 Africa Cup of Nations Final

The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Final was a football match to determine the winner of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. The match was held at the Stade de l'Amitié in Libreville, Gabon, on 5 February 2017 and was contested by Egypt and Cameroon.[3][4][5]

2017 Africa Cup of Nations Final
Cameroon celebrating their victory
Event2017 Africa Cup of Nations
Egypt Cameroon
1 2
Date5 February 2017 (2017-02-05)
VenueStade de l'Amitié, Libreville
Man of the MatchBenjamin Moukandjo (Cameroon)[1]
RefereeJanny Sikazwe (Zambia)
Attendance38,250
WeatherPartly cloudy
28 °C (82 °F)
84% humidity[2]

Cameroon won the match 2–1 for their fifth Africa Cup of Nations title. As winners, they represented CAF at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia.[6]

Background

Egypt appeared in their 23rd tournament, and their 9th final. They have previously won 7 (1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010) and lost the 1962 final against Ethiopia at the Hailé Sélassié Stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Cameroon appeared in their 18th tournament, and their 7th final. They have previously won 4 (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002) and lost 2 (1986, 2008). Egypt and Cameroon had met in two Africa Cup of Nations finals before (the 1986 and 2008 tournaments). Egypt won both of those finals.

Egypt were 35th in the FIFA World Rankings (3rd among African nations), while Cameroon were 62nd (12th among African nations).[7]

Route to the final
Further information: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations
Egypt Round Cameroon
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
 Mali 0–0 Match 1  Burkina Faso 1–1
 Uganda 1–0 Match 2  Guinea-Bissau 2–1
 Ghana 1–0 Match 3  Gabon 0–0
Group D winner
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Egypt 3 7
2  Ghana 3 6
3  Mali 3 2
4  Uganda 3 1
Source: CAF
 Final standings Group A runner-up
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Burkina Faso 3 5
2  Cameroon 3 5
3  Gabon (H) 3 3
4  Guinea-Bissau 3 1
Source: CAF
(H) Host.
Opponent Result Knockout stage Opponent Result
 Morocco 1–0 Quarter-finals  Senegal 0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)
 Burkina Faso 1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p) Semi-finals  Ghana 2–0

Match

Summary

Mohamed Elneny received the ball from Mohamed Salah and opened the scoring after 22 minutes when he cut in from the right and shot right-footed high to the roof of the net past Fabrice Ondoa on his left side.[8] Cameroon were level after 59 minutes when substitute Nicolas Nkoulou rose highest to score with a header to the right corner of the net after a cross from the left by Benjamin Moukandjo.[9] With 2 minutes left, Vincent Aboubakar got the winning goal when he controlled a long ball forward with his chest on the edge of the box, and flicked the ball over Ali Gabr before gathering and shooting right footed low to the right of the goalkeeper from 12 yards out.[10]

In summarising the "thrilling, edgy" final, BBC Sport noted that Egypt started comfortably, but allowed their opponents to come at them in the second half. Cameroon limited Egypt to mostly playing long balls, and their increasing pressure meant that the Egyptian players succumbed to fatigue in the closing stages of the match.[10] CNN's match report concluded that Aboubakar being brought on at half time revitalised Cameroon's attack and was a turning point in the game.[11]

Details
Egypt 1–2 Cameroon
Elneny  22' Report
Attendance: 38,250

Egypt[12]
Cameroon[12]
GK1Essam El-Hadary (c)
RB3Ahmed Elmohamady
CB6Ahmed Hegazy
CB2Ali Gabr
LB7Ahmed Fathy
CM8Tarek Hamed
CM17Mohamed Elneny
RW10Mohamed Salah
AM19Abdallah Said
LW21Trézéguet 66'
CF22Amr Warda
Substitutions:
MF14Ramadan Sobhi 90+2' 66'
Manager:
Héctor Cúper
GK1Fabrice Ondoa
RB19Collins Fai 90+1'
CB5Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui
CB4Adolphe Teikeu 31'
LB6Ambroise Oyongo
CM15Sébastien Siani
CM17Arnaud Djoum
AM9Jacques Zoua 90+4'
RW13Christian Bassogog 90+4'
LW8Benjamin Moukandjo (c)
CF18Robert Ndip Tambe 46'
Substitutions:
DF3Nicolas Nkoulou 31'
FW10Vincent Aboubakar 89' 46'
MF14Georges Mandjeck 90+4'
Manager:
Hugo Broos

Man of the Match:
Benjamin Moukandjo (Cameroon)[1]

Assistant referees:
Jerson Emiliano Dos Santos (Angola)
Marwa Range (Kenya)
Fourth official:
Daniel Bennett (South Africa)
Fifth official:
Zakhele Siwela (South Africa)

Match rules[13]

Statistics

Records

This final witnessed an end of several long-held records, like:

  1. Egypt 's loss in this final against Cameroon is Egypt's first ever loss in the Africa cup of nations finals against Cameroon. Egypt won over Cameroon by penalties in the 1986 final, and by Mohamed Aboutrika's only goal in the 2008 final.[17] Cameroon's win over Egypt is the first since the 2002 African Cup of Nations.[18]
  2. Egypt's loss in this final is the first since the 1962 African Cup of Nations final, their only loss in the Africa cup of nations finals before 2017.[18]
  3. Nicolas Nkoulou's goal against Egypt in this final is the first goal to be conceded by Egypt in the Africa cup of nations finals since Mengistu Worku's goal in the 1962 African Cup of Nations final.[17]
  4. Cameroon's win over Egypt in this final ended a record of 24 successive games has not lost by Egypt from the 0-0 draw with Cameroon in the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations.[17]

See also

References
  1. Confederation of African Football [@CAF_Online] (5 February 2017). "The Total Man of the Match is B. Moukandjo! Great performance!" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 February 2017 – via Twitter.
  2. "Weather History for Libreville, GA". Weather Underground. The Weather Company. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  3. "Fixtures of the Final Tournament" (PDF). CAF.
  4. "Burkina Faso 1-1 Egypt (3-4 pens): Afcon 2017 semi-final – as it happened". Guardian. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  5. "Cameroon beat Ghana to earn place in Africa Cup of Nations final". Guardian. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  6. "Afcon 2017: Cameroon's Aboubakar wins final with late goal against Egypt". Guardian. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  7. "Men's Ranking, 12 January 2017". FIFA.com. FIFA. January 12, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  8. "Egypt 1-2 Cameroon". Goal.com. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  9. "Egypt 1-2 Cameroon: Afcon 2017 final – as it happened". Guardian. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  10. "Egypt 1 Cameroon 2". BBC Sport. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  11. Grez, Matlas (6 February 2017). "AFCON 2017: Unfancied Cameroon shocks Egypt to win fifth title". CNN. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  12. "Tactical start list: Egypt - Cameroon" (PDF). cafonline.com. Confederation of African Football. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  13. "Regulations of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations" (PDF). Confederation of African Football.
  14. "Matchcenter: Egypt vs Cameroon". cafonline.com. Confederation of African Football. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  15. Confederation of African Football [@CAF_Online] (5 February 2017). "STATS | Check out the first-half stats!" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 February 2017 – via Twitter.
  16. Confederation of African Football [@CAF_Online] (5 February 2017). "STATS | Check out the full-time stats! Which team had the better overall performance?" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 February 2017 – via Twitter.
  17. "5 records broken at the CAN final" (in Arabic). 6 February 2017. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  18. "History and Egypt against Cameroon in Africa's final" (in Arabic). 6 February 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
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