| Tourney Name: | African Nations Championship |
| Year: | 2020 |
| Other Titles: | Championnat d'Afrique des Nations 2020 2020 CHAN / CHAN 2020 |
| Size: | 190px |
| Country: | Cameroon |
| Dates: | 16 January – 7 February 2021 |
| Num Teams: | 16 |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Venues: | 4 |
| Cities: | 3 |
| Champion: | MAR |
| Count: | 2 |
| Second: | MLI |
| Third: | GUI |
| Fourth: | CMR |
| Matches: | 32 |
| Goals: | 62 |
| Player: |  Soufiane Rahimi |
| Goalkeeper: | Anas Zniti |
| Young Player: | Morlaye Sylla |
| Prevseason: | 2018 |
| Nextseason: | 2022 |
The 2020 African Nations Championship, known as CHAN 2020 for short and the Total African Nations Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 6th edition of the biennial association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), featuring national teams consisting of players from their respective national leagues. It was held in Cameroon from 16 January to 7 February 2021.[1]
Originally scheduled from 4 to 25 April 2020,[2] CAF announced its postponement on 17 March 2020 to a later date due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa,[3] eventually rescheduling it to January 2021 on 30 June that year.[4]
Morocco defeated Mali in the final to successfully defend their title, thus joining DR Congo as the tournament's most successful nations as well as being the first team to win it back-to-back or twice in a row.
Ethiopia were originally officially appointed to host the tournament on 4 February 2018 after the final of the previous edition in Morocco,[5] but the country's football federation admitted it wasn't ready[6] so it was handed over to Cameroon instead.[7] [8] Originally scheduled for January and February 2020,[9] it was postponed to April 2020[10] and then to January and February 2021.
After inspecting all stadia and infrastructure, CAF delivered a satisfactory certificate to Cameroon in which they indicated the percentage of attendance in line with health exigencies outlined by FIFA. Twenty five percent of spectators were admitted in the different stadia during the group stage of the competition and about 50% spectator increament the knock-out phases.[11]
See main article: 2020 African Nations Championship qualification.
The qualification rounds took place in 2019. Djibouti and Gabon were banned as they withdrew during the qualification for the previous edition.[12] The former, along with original hosts Ethiopia were later reinstated.[13]
The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament:[14]
Tunisia withdrew from the tournament despite qualification. CAF invited Libya, whom Tunisia defeated to qualify, and gave them a deadline of 28 January 2020 to decide whether or not to participate in place of Tunisia.[15] Libya accepted the invitation[16] and Tunisia were fined $75,000 and banned from participating in the qualification rounds of the next edition.[17]
| Team | Zone | data-sort-type="number" | Appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA ranking at start of event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (hosts) | 4th | (2011, 2016) | 50 | ||
| 3rd | (2018) | 91 | |||
| 5th | (2009, 2016) | 60 | |||
| 4th | (2016) | 133 | |||
| 2nd | (2009) | 135 | |||
| 5th | (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018) | 79 | |||
| 4th | (2014) | 111 | |||
| 4th | (2018) | 35 | |||
| 2nd | (2018) | 119 | |||
| 4th | (2009) | 90 | |||
| 5th | (2014) | 108 | |||
| 3rd | (2016) | 73 | |||
| 4th | (2016) | 57 | |||
| 3rd | (2014, 2018) | 58 | |||
| 3rd | (2011) | 113 | |||
| 1st | 128 |
Matches were held in 4 venues across 3 cities: Yaoundé, Limbe and Douala. The fixtures were announced on 24 February 2020.[18]
| Douala | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Japoma Stadium | Reunification Stadium | ||
| Capacity: 50,000 | Capacity: 30,000 | ||
| Yaounde | Limbe | ||
| Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium | Limbe Stadium | ||
| Capacity: 42,500 | Capacity: 20,000 | ||
See main article: 2020 African Nations Championship squads.
Each squad can contain a maximum of 23 players (Regulations Article 72).[19]
The following 43 match officials officiated during the 2020 African Nations Championship.[20] [21]
George Gatogato Pacifique Ndabihawenimana
Sidi Alioum
Jean-Jacques Ndala
Mahmoud El Banna (+ VAR) Mohamed Marouf
(Ms) Lidya Tafesse
Daniel Laryea
Peter Waweru Adil Zourak (+ VAR)
Boubou Traoré Samir Guezzaz
Jean Claude Ishimwe
Sadok Selmi Elvis Noupue (+ AVAR) (Ms) Carine Atezambong Fomo
Liban Abdirazack Ahmed Oliver Safari Mahmoud Abouelregal (+ AVAR)
Boris Ditsoga Gilbert Cheruiyot
Attia Amsaaed
(Ms) Bernadettar Kwimbira Mostafa Akarkad Zakaria Brinsi
Mimisen Iyorhe Samuel Pwadutakam Kahalil Hassani (+ AVAR) Bamlak Tessema Weyesa Haythem GuiratThe draw of this edition of the tournament was held at the Polyvalent Sports Center of Yaoundé in Yaoundé on 17 February 2020 at 19:00 WAT (UTC+1).[22] [23] [24] The 16 teams were drawn into 4 groups of 4 and were allocated into 4 pots, with the hosts Cameroon seeded in position A1 of Group A1 and the defending champions Morocco seeded in position C1 of Group C.[25]
| width=25% | Pot 1 | width=25% | Pot 2 | width=25% | Pot 3 | width=25% | Pot 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top |
| valign=top | valign=top | valign=top |
The top two teams of each group advance to the quarter-finals.
All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).[26]
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In the knockout stages, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary, except for the third place match where penalty shoot-out (no extra time) is used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 75).
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See main article: 2020 African Nations Championship Final.
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Total Man of the Competition | |
|---|---|
| Soufiane Rahimi[27] | |
| Top Scorer | |
| Soufiane Rahimi | |
| Best Goalkeeper | |
| Anas Zniti | |
| Best Young Player | |
| Morlaye Sylla | |
| Best Coach | |
| Hussein Ammouta | |
| CAF Fair Play Team | |
| Stage | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Man of the Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage matches | |||||
| Group A | 1–0 | Ako Assomo | |||
| 1–0 | Ibourahima Sidibe | ||||
| Group B | 0–0 | Abdoul Moumouni | |||
| 1–0 | Henock Inonga Baka | ||||
| Group C | 1–0 | Soufiane Rahimi | |||
| 0–0 | Fitina Omborenga | ||||
| Group D | 2–0 | Collins Sikombe | |||
| 3–0 | Morlaye Sylla | ||||
| Group A | 1–1 | Moussa Kyabou | |||
| 3–1 |  Ismahila Ouédraogo | ||||
| Group B | 1–1 | Abdullah Abdulrahman | |||
| 1–1 | Mick Itali Ossete | ||||
| Group C | 0–0 | Abdelkrim Baadi | |||
| 1–2 | Ismaïl Ouro-Agoro | ||||
| Group D | 1–1 | Morlaye Sylla | |||
| 0–1 | Faridi Mussa | ||||
| Group A | 0–0 | Hamed Belem | |||
| 0–1 | Mussa Ballo | ||||
| Group B | 1–0 | Hardy Binguila | |||
| 1–2 | Ibrahim Issa | ||||
| Group C | 2–5 | Soufiane Rahimi | |||
| 2–3 | Jacques Tuyisenge | ||||
| Group D | 0–0 | Collins Sikombe | |||
| 2–2 | Victor Kantabadouno | ||||
| Knockout stage matches | |||||
| Quarter-finals | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) | Sadio Kanoute | |||
| 1–2 | Ako Assomo | ||||
| 3–1 | Mohammed Ali Bemammer | ||||
| 1–0 | Morlaye Sylla | ||||
| Semi-finals | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) | Sadio Kanoute | |||
| 4–0 | Soufiane Rahimi | ||||
| Third place match | 2–0 | Morlaye Sylla | |||
| Final | 0–2 | Anas Zniti | |||