| Year: | 2008 |
| Other Titles: | MTN Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2008 |
| Size: | 150px |
| Country: | Ghana |
| Dates: | 20 January – 10 February |
| Num Teams: | 16 |
| Venues: | 4 |
| Cities: | 4 |
| Champion: | Egypt |
| Count: | 6 |
| Second: | Cameroon |
| Third: | Ghana |
| Fourth: | Ivory Coast |
| Matches: | 32 |
| Goals: | 99 |
| Attendance: | 714000 |
| Top Scorer: |  Samuel Eto'o (5 goals) |
| Player: |  Hosny Abd Rabo |
| Goalkeeper: | Essam El-Hadary |
| Prevseason: | 2006 |
| Nextseason: | 2010 |
The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated with the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament was staged at four venues around Ghana between 20 January and 10 February 2008. This was the last Africa Cup of Nations to use the old CAF logo.
Egypt won the tournament, beating Cameroon 1–0 in the final. As winners, they qualified for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup as the CAF representatives.
Bids:
The organization of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations was awarded to Ghana on 8 July 2004 by the CAF Executive Committee members which are 12 in Cairo, Egypt. Voters had a choice between Ghana and Libya which was disadvantaged by the fact that two countries in the North Africa region had already hosted the last two editions (Tunisia in 2004, and Egypt in 2006).
South Africa, also a candidate at the start, eventually withdrew in May 2004 after being nominated for the organization of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
This was the fourth time that Ghana hosted the African Cup after 1963, 1978 and 2000 (jointly with Nigeria).
| Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nation | Votes | ||
| Ghana | 9 | ||
| Libya | 3 | ||
| South Africa | Withdrew | ||
| align=left | Total votes | 12 | |
See main article: 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification.
The entrants were divided into 12 groups. All group winners and the best three runners-up from groups with four teams (groups 2-11) qualified for the finals. Host Ghana qualified automatically. Qualifying took place between 2 September 2006 and 13 October 2007.
| width=160 | Accra ! | width=160 | Kumasi | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baba Yara Stadium | ||||
| Capacity: 40,000[1] | Capacity: 40,528 | |||
| width=160 | Sekondi-Takoradi | |||
| Sekondi-Takoradi Stadium | ||||
| Capacity: 21,017 | Capacity: 20,088 |
For the Akan culture originating from Western Africa, one of the Adinkra symbols named Wawa Aba is a symbol of hardiness, toughness, and perseverance.[2] People there particularly believe in the strength and team spirit of a community. The Wawa Aba literally means "seed(s) of Wawa tree (Triplochiton scleroxylon)”,[3] one of the strongest and most processible woods of Africa and whose seeds are very hard. For the population, the Wawa Aba mainly has mystical significance. These are people who don't let failure discourage them, who seize all opportunities successfully and who are thus just as strong and adaptable as the Wawa Aba.
16 referees and 16 assistant referees were selected for the tournament, including two from Japan and one from South Korea.[4]
| Referees | Assistant Referees | |
|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Benouza | Brahim Djezzar | |
| Divine Evehe | Evarist Menkouande | |
 Yuichi Nishimura | Toru Sagara | |
 Abderrahim El Arjoun | Redouane Achik | |
| Jerome Damon | Enock Molefe | |
| Kokou Djaoupe | Komi Konyoh | |
 Kacem Bennaceur | Bechir Hassani | |
| Djamel Haimoudi |  Jeong Hae-sang | |
 Coffi Codjia |  Celestin Ntagungira | |
| Modou Sowe |  Angesom Ogbamariam | |
 Alex Kotey |  Desire Gahungu | |
 Koman Coulibaly |  Lassina Paré | |
 Badara Diatta |  Peter Edibe | |
| Eddy Maillet | Inacio Manuel Candido | |
 Muhmed Ssegonga | Nasser Sadek Abdel Nabi | |
| Kenias Marange | Kenneth Chichenga |
See main article: 2008 Africa Cup of Nations squads.
The draw for the tournament took place on 19 October 2007 in Accra. The sixteen teams were divided into four pots according to their performances in past Cup of Nations tournaments. Ghana, as hosts, were automatically seeded as the top team in Group A. Egypt, the defending champions, were seeded as the top team in Group C.[5] Tunisia and Nigeria had the two strongest records and so completed the top seeded Pot 1. Each group consists of four teams, one drawn from each of the pots.
Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:[6]
All times given as local time (UTC+0)
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See main article: 2008 Africa Cup of Nations Final.
Samuel Eto'o – 5 goalsThe following players were selected as the best in their respective positions, based on their performances throughout the tournament. Their performances were analysed by the tournament's Technical Study Group (TSG), who picked the team.[8]
Didier Drogba Salomon Kalou Kader Keïta Boubacar Sanogo Junior Agogo Sulley Muntari Soufiane Alloudi Geremi Joseph-Désiré Job Stéphane Mbia Mohamed Zidan Michael Essien
Brian Brendell Yakubu Chaouki Ben Saada Francileudo dos Santos Razak Omotoyossi Achille Emana Alain N'Kong Aruna Dindane Bakari Koné Yaya Touré Marco Zoro Ahmed Fathy Haminu Dramani Asamoah Gyan Quincy Owusu-Abeyie Frédéric Kanouté Hicham Aboucherouane Abdeslam Ouaddou Tarik Sektioui Monsef Zerka Mikel John Obi Moustapha Bayal Sall Henri Camara Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye Diomansy Kamara Yassine Chikhaoui Issam Jemâa Mejdi Traoui