AFCON All-Time Winners: Which African Nations Have Won the Most?

Egypt hold the record for the most AFCON all-time winners titles, with seven championships — more than any other nation in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations. Cameroon are second on five, Ghana third on four, and Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire are joint-fourth with three apiece. Below is the complete all-time ranking, plus the stories behind the numbers: from the tournament's three-nation debut in 1957 to the sides who waited decades for their first crown.

The Complete AFCON All-Time Winners Table

The table below ranks every nation by total titles, ordered from most to fewest. You can browse deeper history for each of these national teams on the ScoreBorg history hub.

Note: Congo (Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville) and DR Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire) are separate nations. DR Congo won in 1968 and 1974 competing as Zaire; Congo won in 1972.

Egypt: Seven Titles and an Unmatched Legacy

No nation has come close to matching Egypt's grip on the Africa Cup of Nations. The Pharaohs did not just win the first-ever edition in 1957 — they demolished Ethiopia in the final, with striker Mohamed Diab Al-Attar netting all four goals in a 4-0 result. That set the tone for what would become the most decorated international run in the tournament's history.

Egypt's seven titles span three distinct eras. The early dominance (1957, 1959) came when AFCON was a tiny affair with only a handful of competing nations. The middle-era wins (1986, 1998) proved they could compete in a far more crowded field. And then came the feat that still makes rivals shake their heads: three consecutive titles between 2006 and 2010 — staged in Egypt, Ghana, and Angola — making them the first and so far only nation to win AFCON three times in a row. That hat-trick, built around players like Mohamed Aboutrika and a steel-solid defensive unit, is all the more remarkable for being achieved across three different host nations, proving it owed nothing to home advantage.

No country has won more than seven, and with Egypt's closest rival sitting on five, the record looks safe for the foreseeable future.

Cameroon: Five Stars and the Indomitable Lions

Cameroon's crest carries five stars — one for each AFCON title — and the Indomitable Lions nickname is well earned. Their five championships (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017) make them Africa's second-most successful nation and the standard-bearer for Central African football.

The first two titles featured Roger Milla, one of the continent's all-time greats, as a key attacking force. Cameroon beat Nigeria in both the 1984 and 1988 finals — a record against a single opponent that speaks to a genuine rivalry. The 2000 and 2002 titles arrived back-to-back, making Cameroon one of only two nations (alongside Egypt) to win in consecutive editions. Their 2017 win came against all expectations: a relatively unfancied squad reached the final and beat Egypt. Five titles across more than three decades — a record of consistency that only Egypt can match.

Ghana: Four Titles, Zero Since 1982

Ghana's four AFCON titles (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982) were earned in a concentrated 20-year burst, making the Black Stars the dominant force of the competition's early decades. They were the first African side to reach four titles, and in 1963 and 1965 they became the first back-to-back champions in tournament history.

What makes Ghana's record bittersweet is the drought that followed. More than four decades have passed since their last title, despite the Black Stars consistently reaching the latter stages of tournaments and, in the mid-2000s and early 2010s, fielding genuinely world-class squads. It is one of African football's most compelling open questions: when will the fifth star arrive? You can track Ghana's full continental record in the ScoreBorg teams section.

Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire: Joint Fourth on Three Each

Nigeria's three AFCON titles (1980, 1994, 2013) tell a story of long gaps between peaks. Their first came on home soil, beating Algeria in the final. The 1994 victory in Tunisia — built around a scintillating attacking unit that included Emmanuel Amuneke — is often cited as one of Nigeria's finest footballing generations. The 2013 title, in South Africa, ended a 19-year wait and confirmed the Super Eagles' ability to produce winning squads across eras.

Cote d'Ivoire's three titles (1992, 2015, 2023) form the most dramatic arc in the all-time table. Their 2023 triumph — as host nation — came after an extraordinary run from the group stage, having replaced their head coach mid-tournament. They came from behind to beat Nigeria in the final. For a nation that spent the 2000s fielding a generation featuring Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure without adding to their 1992 title, winning in 2015 and 2023 felt like long-overdue reward.

Algeria and DR Congo: Two Each

Algeria's two titles (1990, 2019) are separated by 29 years — a gap that captures how difficult it is to sustain continental excellence. The 2019 triumph, built around Riyad Mahrez and a relentless high press under coach Djamel Belmadi, was one of the most complete AFCON campaigns in the modern era: Algeria went through the tournament unbeaten and were arguably the best team on the continent that year.

DR Congo — who competed as Zaire during their 1968 and 1974 campaigns — remain one of the continent's sleeping giants. Their back-to-back wins in the early 1970s showed genuine quality, but the trophy has not returned to Kinshasa since.

The First-Time Winners: Long Waits, Emotional Nights

Some of the most powerful moments in AFCON history belong not to the serial champions but to the nations who finally ended their wait. The gap between perennial contender and first-time champion is wide — and the stories of those who crossed it tend to be the ones that stick.

Senegal (2021)

Senegal had been runners-up in 2002 and 2019 before finally breaking through at the 2021 edition (played in Cameroon in early 2022, after a COVID-related postponement). They beat Egypt — the most decorated nation in AFCON history — in a penalty shootout, with Sadio Mane converting the decisive kick after missing a penalty during normal time. The country declared a public holiday. For a generation of Senegalese players who had felt the tournament slip away twice in finals, it was a title a very long time coming.

Zambia (2012)

Zambia's 2012 triumph is arguably the most emotionally charged moment in the competition's entire history. They beat Cote d'Ivoire 8-7 on penalties in Libreville, Gabon — close to the site where 18 Zambian players and staff lost their lives in a plane crash in 1993. The players wore the names of those lost on the inside of their shirts, and after the final whistle they celebrated by the water's edge. Captain Christopher Katongo dedicated the title to the 18 who never made it home. It is the sort of story that reminds you why football matters beyond sport.

South Africa (1996) and Tunisia (2004)

South Africa's 1996 title came as hosts and as a nation re-entering world football after the end of apartheid — a moment that carried enormous symbolic weight. Bafana Bafana beat Tunisia 2-0 in the final. Tunisia's own crowning moment arrived eight years later, when they became the first North African nation outside Egypt to lift the trophy on home soil.

Nations Still Waiting for a First Title

More than 50 CAF member nations have competed in AFCON qualifying at some point, but only 14 distinct nations have ever lifted the trophy. Among the sides still chasing a maiden title are Mali, Burkina Faso, Morocco (winners in 1976), and many others who have made deep tournament runs without that final step. The field expands, new contenders emerge every edition, and the dream stays alive for the rest.

Fourteen nations have won AFCON across more than 30 editions. That means the vast majority of CAF's member associations have never held the trophy — which is precisely what makes every underdog run and every first-time finalist so compelling to watch.

How the Tournament Has Evolved

AFCON began as a three-team knockout event in Khartoum in 1957, with only Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan taking part (South Africa were disqualified for refusing to field a multiracial squad, a direct consequence of apartheid policy). The field expanded steadily over the following decades — to eight teams, then 12, then 16 — before reaching 24 teams from the 2019 edition onward. The larger field has made upsets more common and given smaller nations a genuine path to the latter stages, but it has also made the knockout rounds a grueling test of squad depth.

Held every two years, AFCON typically runs across January and February, creating long-running tension between African football federations and European clubs whose players are drawn away mid-season. That debate has never been fully resolved, but for fans across the continent, AFCON remains the centerpiece of the African football calendar regardless of scheduling politics. See the latest tournament standings and check the live scores feed during competition windows.

Dig Deeper With ScoreBorg

The ScoreBorg history hub has complete records for every AFCON edition, including final scorelines, goalscorers, and bracket results going back to 1957. If you want to test your own knowledge, the daily trivia game features regular AFCON questions covering everything from founding nations to record goalscorers to penalty-shootout drama. And if you want to put your predictions on the line ahead of the next edition, the free prediction game lets you pick winners at every stage for points and bragging rights — no money involved, just football knowledge.

Egypt's record of seven looks safe for the foreseeable future. But AFCON has a long habit of producing unforgettable upsets, emotional comebacks, and first-time champions that nobody saw coming. The next entry on this table could belong to anyone.