2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Qualification for championships (CAF)
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This page details the process of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification phase. Forty-six African nations, including hosts Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, entered the competition. Gabon and Equatorial Guinea automatically qualified as host countries. The other 44 nations were drawn into eleven groups, each containing 4 teams. Togo was later added to Group K after its reinstatement.

In each group, teams played each other home and away in a round-robin format. The top team in each group qualified, as did the runner-up of Group K (which contained 5 teams) and the two best runners-up from the other groups.^[1]

The teams qualified are:

Country	Qualified as	Date qualification was secured	Previous appearances in tournament
Gabon	00Co-hosts	0329 July 2007	4 (1994, 1996, 2000, 2010)
Equatorial Guinea			0 (debut)
Botswana	01Group K Winner	0026 March 2011	0 (debut)
Ivory Coast	01Group H Winner	005 June 2011	18 (1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1980, 19842, 1986, 1988, 1990, 19921, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Burkina Faso	01Group F Winner	003 September 2011	7 (1978, 1996, 19982, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010)
Senegal	01Group E Winner	03 September 2011	11 (1965, 1968, 1986, 1990, 19922, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008)
Ghana	01Group I Winner	008 October 2011	17 (196312, 19651, 1968, 1970, 197812, 1980, 19821, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 20002, 2002, 2006, 20082, 2010)
Guinea	01Group B Winner	008 October 2011	10 (1970, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2004, 2008)
Zambia	01Group C Winner	008 October 2011	14 (1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Libya	01Top Two Runner-up	008 October 2011	2 (19822, 2006)
Angola	01Group J Winner	008 October 2011	5 (1996, 1998, 2006, 2008, 20102)
Tunisia	01Group K Runner-up	008 October 2011	14 (1962, 1963, 19652, 1978, 1982, 19942, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 200412, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Mali	01Group A Winner	008 October 2011	6 (1972, 1994, 20022, 2004, 2008, 2010)
Niger	01Group G Winner	008 October 2011	0 (debut)
Morocco	01Group D Winner	009 October 2011	13 (1972, 19761, 1978, 1980, 1986, 19882, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008)
Sudan	01Top Two Runner-up	009 October 2011	7 (19572, 1959, 1963, 197012, 1972, 1976, 2008)

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year

² Italic indicates host

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) conducted the draw for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign on 20 February 2010. The draw was held in Lubumbashi, Congo DR where the CAF Super Cup was held on 21 February 2010.^[2] The 11 teams in Pot 1 were selected based on their ranking after the 27th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. The rest were ranked based on their position at the latest FIFA Ranking.^[3][4]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Egypt  Ghana  Nigeria  Algeria  Cameroon  Angola  Zambia  Ivory Coast  Burkina Faso  Mali  Tunisia	Morocco  Benin  Uganda  South Africa  Malawi  Mozambique  Guinea  Senegal  Gambia  Cape Verde  Congo	Rwanda  Tanzania  Sudan  Namibia  Congo DR  Kenya  Libya  Zimbabwe  Botswana  Ethiopia  Sierra Leone	Swaziland  Chad  Burundi  Madagascar  Liberia  Niger  Comoros  Mauritius  Mauritania  Central African Republic  Guinea-Bissau

Notes

• Togo was initially banned from competing in the tournament and was thus not involved in the draw, but they were later reinstated and added to Group K (see below).
• Did not enter:  Djibouti,  Eritrea,  Lesotho,  São Tomé and Príncipe,  Seychelles,  Somalia.

Togo were banned from the 2012 and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments by CAF after they withdrew from the 2010 tournament following a deadly attack on their team bus.^[5]

Togo appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepping in to mediate. The ban was subsequently lifted with immediate effect on 14 May 2010, after a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee. Togo were readmitted to the 2012 and 2013 tournaments, and (in the case of the 2012 qualifiers) added to the qualification stage.^[6]

The order of tie-breakers used when two or more team have the equal number of points is:^[7] (article 14)

1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
4. Away goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
5. Goal difference in all games;
6. Goals scored in all games;
7. Drawing of lots.

Legend
Group winners, Group K runner-up, and top two runners-up in all other groups qualify for the finals

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		MLI	CPV	ZIM	LBR
Mali	6	3	1	2	9	6	+3	10[a]			3–0	1–0	2–1
Cape Verde	6	3	1	2	7	7	0	10[a]		1–0		2–1	4–2
Zimbabwe	6	2	2	2	7	5	+2	8		2–1	0–0		3–0
Liberia	6	1	2	3	7	12	−5	5		2–2	1–0	1–1

Head-to-head

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Mali	2	1	0	1	3	1	+2	3
Cape Verde	2	1	0	1	1	3	−2	3

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Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		GUI	NGA	ETH	MAD
Guinea	6	4	2	0	13	5	+8	14			1–0	1–0	4–1
Nigeria	6	3	2	1	12	5	+7	11		2–2		4–0	2–0
Ethiopia	6	2	1	3	8	13	−5	7		1–4	2–2		4–2
Madagascar	6	0	1	5	4	14	−10	1		1–1	0–2	0–1

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Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		ZAM	LBY	MOZ	COM
Zambia	6	4	1	1	11	2	+9	13			0–0	3–0	4–0
Libya	6	3	3	0	6	1	+5	12		1–0		1–0	3–0
Mozambique	6	2	1	3	4	6	−2	7		0–2	0–0		3–0
Comoros	6	0	1	5	2	14	−12	1		1–2	1–1	0–1

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Notes

• Note 1: Postponed from 4 September 2010, due to the late arrival of match officials.^[14]
• Note 2: Originally to be played at Tripoli, Libya but moved to neutral venue due to the political situation in Libya.^[15][16]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		MAR	CTA	ALG	TAN
Morocco	6	3	2	1	8	2	+6	11			0–0	4–0	3–1
Central African Republic	6	2	2	2	5	5	0	8[a]		0–0		2–0	2–1
Algeria	6	2	2	2	5	8	−3	8[a]		1–0	2–0		1–1
Tanzania	6	1	2	3	6	9	−3	5		0–1	2–1	1–1

• Note: The ranking of the Central African Republic and Algeria by their head-to-head records is shown below. As they could not be separated on these criteria, ranking was based on overall goal difference.

head-to-head

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	AG	Pts
1	Central African Republic	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	0	3
2	Algeria	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	0	3

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Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		SEN	CMR	COD	MRI
Senegal	6	5	1	0	16	2	+14	16			1–0	2–0	7–0
Cameroon	6	3	2	1	12	5	+7	11		0–0		1–1	5–0
DR Congo	6	2	1	3	10	11	−1	7		2–4	2–3		3–0
Mauritius	6	0	0	6	2	22	−20	0		0–2	1–3	1–2

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Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		BFA	GAM	NAM	MTN
Burkina Faso	4	3	1	0	12	3	+9	10			3–1	4–0
Gambia	4	1	1	2	5	6	−1	4		1–1		3–1
Namibia	4	1	0	3	3	11	−8	3		1–4	1–0
Mauritania	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

• Mauritania withdrew from 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification before any match was played.^[21]

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Notes

• The Namibia Football Association made a formal complaint that Burkina Faso fielded an ineligible player, Yaoundé-born Herve Xavier Zengue, in the games on 26 March and 4 June.^[24] Burkina Faso coach Paulo Duarte says that the player is eligible as he has a Burkinabé wife.^[25] CAF opened an investigation,^[26] but later dismissed the protest saying it was filed long after the stipulated period for such appeals.^[27]
• Namibia indicated that they would appeal the decision to CAF and, if necessary, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on two different points. Firstly that an appeal had been filed with the match referee prior to their game with Burkina Faso but had not been forwarded to CAF and secondly that such an appeal was in any case not required due to article 36.12 of the competition regulations which stated that "non-qualified or a suspended player to take part in group matches shall lose the match by penalty (3–0), even in the absence of protests/reservations".^[28]
• On 10 January 2012, their appeal was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.^[29]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		NIG	RSA	SLE	EGY
Niger	6	3	0	3	6	8	−2	9[a]			2–1	3–1	1–0
South Africa	6	2	3	1	4	2	+2	9[a]		2–0		0–0	1–0
Sierra Leone	6	2	3	1	5	5	0	9[a]		1–0	0–0		2–1
Egypt	6	1	2	3	5	5	0	5		3–0	0–0	1–1

head-to-head

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Niger	4	2	0	2	5	5	0	6
South Africa	4	1	2	1	3	2	+1	5
Sierra Leone	4	1	2	1	2	3	−1	5

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Notes

• The South African Football Association lodged a complaint against their elimination, claiming that goal difference should be used to decide on the group winner, as it is "the traditional way of determining a log standing".^[32] The South African team had believed they had qualified when the final whistle was blown following their 0–0 draw with Sierra Leone.^[33] The SAFA later withdrew its appeal.^[34]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		CIV	RWA	BDI	BEN
Ivory Coast	6	6	0	0	19	4	+15	18			3–0	2–1	2–1
Rwanda	6	2	0	4	5	15	−10	6		0–5		3–1	0–3
Burundi	6	1	2	3	7	9	−2	5[a]		0–1	3–1		1–1
Benin	6	1	2	3	8	11	−3	5[a]		2–6	0–1	1–1

• Note: The ranking of Burundi and Benin by their head-to-head records is shown below. As they could not be separated on these criteria, ranking was based on overall goal difference.

head-to-head

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	AG	Pts
Burundi	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	1	2
Benin	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	1	2

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Notes

• Note 3: Originally to be played at Abidjan, Ivory Coast but moved to neutral venue due to the political situation in Côte d'Ivoire.^[15]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		GHA	SUD	CGO	SWZ
Ghana	6	5	1	0	13	1	+12	16			0–0	3–1	2–0
Sudan	6	4	1	1	8	3	+5	13		0–2		2–0	3–0
Congo	6	2	0	4	5	10	−5	6		0–3	0–1		3–1
Swaziland	6	0	0	6	2	14	−12	0		0–3	1–2	0–1

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Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		ANG	UGA	KEN	GNB
Angola	6	4	0	2	7	5	+2	12			2–0	1–0	1–0
Uganda	6	3	2	1	6	2	+4	11		3–0		0–0	2–0
Kenya	6	2	2	2	4	4	0	8		2–1	0–0		2–1
Guinea-Bissau	6	1	0	5	2	8	−6	3		0–2	0–1	1–0

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Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		BOT	TUN	MWI	TOG	CHA
Botswana	8	5	2	1	7	3	+4	17			1–0	0–0	2–1	1–0
Tunisia	8	4	2	2	14	6	+8	14		0–1		2–2	2–0	5–0
Malawi	8	2	6	0	13	8	+5	12		1–1	0–0		1–0	6–2
Togo	8	1	3	4	6	10	−4	6		1–0	1–2	1–1		0–0
Chad	8	0	3	5	7	20	−13	3		0–1	1–3	2–2	2–2

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The two best runners-up from Groups A–J qualify for the 2012 ACN. After the withdrawal of Mauritania from Group F, the following rule applies:^[21]

In case a group of four is reduced to three teams during the competition, the two best runners up of the groups of four were determined by taking into account their results with the first and third of their respective groups without taking into account their results against the last team of their groups in order to allow the second of the group reduced to three teams to remain in the race for the two best second.

The two best runners-up are determined by the following parameters in this order:^[44]

1. Highest number of points
2. Goal difference
3. Highest number of goals scored
4. Match replay in case of parity

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	C	Libya	4	2	2	0	2	0	+2	8
2	I	Sudan	4	2	1	1	3	2	+1	7
3	A	Cape Verde	4	2	1	1	3	4	−1	7
4	B	Nigeria	4	1	2	1	8	5	+3	5
5	G	South Africa	4	1	2	1	3	2	+1	5
6	J	Uganda	4	1	2	1	3	2	+1	5
7	E	Cameroon	4	1	2	1	4	4	0	5
8	D	Central African Republic	4	1	2	1	2	2	0	5
9	F	Gambia	4	1	1	2	5	6	−1	4
10	H	Rwanda	4	1	0	3	4	12	−8	3

There were 327 goals scored in 130 games for an average of 2.52 goals per game.

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

• Africa Cup of Nations at CAFonline.com