Three teams, one trophy: how the Africa Cup of Nations began

The Confédération Africaine de Football was founded in 1957, and it did not wait to compete. The first Africa Cup of Nations was played that same year, with a field of three teams — a tournament so small that the entire competition could be resolved in a handful of matches.

Why it was that small

In 1957 most of the continent was not yet independent, and a national football federation requires a national state to affiliate it. The competition's growth from three entrants to a modern tournament with a full qualification cycle is, read properly, a record of decolonisation: each new independent country meant a new federation, a new league to organise and a new entrant.

What the early format tells you

Small fields make for distorted history. Early winners were the federations with functioning domestic competitions and the means to travel, not necessarily the strongest football cultures on the continent. Comparing an early Cup of Nations to a recent one is not comparing like with like, and any claim about a "most successful nation" needs the era stated alongside it.

The competition today

Modern editions run a continental qualification campaign followed by a group-and-knockout finals tournament, and the winner qualifies for FIFA's intercontinental competition for continental champions. The tournament's scheduling remains the most contested part of African football's relationship with European clubs, because it takes place inside a European club season and CAF is under no obligation to move it for their convenience.

Meridian XI reports competition results and structures from CAF's own regulations and match records. We do not publish historical claims about early editions that we cannot trace to a documented source.