Sudan is one of the first countries to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations, and was also the first host country, when Sudan hosted it in 1957.[1] During 1950s to 1970s, Sudan was one of Africa's best teams, and had won the tournament in the 1970 also held at home just after Gaafar Nimeiry's coup, with its greatest striker being Mustafa Azhari Alawad.[2] However, after 1970, with Mustafa's retirement, the Sudanese team began to suffer a long decline and Sudan would lose status as a major African power to the hand of other African teams. Overall, Sudan had to wait for 32 years after qualified to the 1976 Africa Cup of Nations to make its return in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, where it finished bottom with three straight 0–3 loss.[3] Sudan would soon manage its best performance up to date in 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, reaching the quarter-finals in modern era, before suffers tremendous crisis that continue to hinder the growth of Sudanese football.
| Africa Cup of Nations record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances: 9 | |||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | |||||||
 1957 | Third place | 3rd | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 1959 | Runners-up | 2nd | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
 1962 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
 1963 | Runners-up | 2nd | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | |
 1965 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 1968 | |||||||||
| 1970 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | |
 1972 | Group stage | 7th | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | |
 1974 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 1976 | Group stage | 7th | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1978 | Withdrew | ||||||||
 1980 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
 1982 | Did not enter | ||||||||
| 1984 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 1986 | Withdrew | ||||||||
 1988 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
 1990 | |||||||||
 1992 | |||||||||
| 1994 | |||||||||
 1996 | |||||||||
 1998 | Withdrew during qualifying | ||||||||
| 2000 | Did not enter | ||||||||
 2002 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 2004 | |||||||||
| 2006 | |||||||||
| 2008 | Group stage | 16th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | |
 2010 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
  2012 | Quarter-finals | 8th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | |
| 2013 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 2015 | |||||||||
| 2017 | |||||||||
| 2019 | |||||||||
| 2021 | Group stage | 20th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2023 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 2025 | To be determined | ||||||||
  2027 | |||||||||
| Total | 1 Title | 9/34 | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 29 | 42 | |
| AFCON edition | Date | Location | Stage | Opponent | Result | Sudan scorers | Opponent scorers |
| 10 February 1957 | Semi-finals | 1–2 | Raafat Attia Ad-Diba | ||||
| 25 May 1959 | Final tournament | 1–0 | |||||
| 29 May 1959 | 1–2 | Essam Baheeg (x2) | |||||
| 26 November 1963 | Group stage | 2–2 | Nasr El-Din Abbas (x2) | Hassan El-Shazly Mohamed Morsi Hussein | |||
| 28 November 1963 | 4–0 | ||||||
| 1 December 1963 | Final | 0–3 | Edward Aggrey-Fynn Edward Acquah (x2) | ||||
| 6 February 1970 | Group stage | 3–0 | |||||
| 8 February 1970 | 0–1 | François Tahi | |||||
| 10 February 1970 | 2–1 | Jean-Marie Tsébo | |||||
| 14 February 1970 | Semi-finals | 2–1 | Ahmed Mohamed El-Bashir (x2) | Hassan El-Shazly | |||
| 16 February 1970 | Final | 1–0 | |||||
| 25 February 1972 | Group stage | 1–1 | Mayanga Maku | ||||
| 27 February 1972 | 1–1 | Ahmed Faras | |||||
| 29 February 1972 | 2–4 | Jean-Michel M'Bono (x2) François M'Pelé Jonas Bahamboula | |||||
| 1 March 1976 | Group stage | 2–2 | Ali Gagarin (x2) | Mustapha Fetoui Ahmed Abouali | |||
| 4 March 1976 | 0–1 | Thompson Usiyan | |||||
| 6 March 1976 | 1–1 | Ndaye Mulamba | |||||
| 22 January 2008 | Group stage | 0–3 | James Chamanga Jacob Mulenga Felix Katongo | ||||
| 26 January 2008 | 0–3 | Hosny Abd Rabo Mohamed Aboutrika (x2) | |||||
| 30 January 2008 | 0–3 | ||||||
| 22 January 2012 | Group stage | 0–1 | Didier Drogba | ||||
| 26 January 2012 | 2–2 | Mohamed Ahmed Bashir (x2) | Manucho (x2) | ||||
| 30 January 2012 | 2–1 | Mudather El Tahir (x2) | Issiaka Ouédraogo | ||||
| 30 January 2012 | Quarter-finals | 0–3 | Stophira Sunzu Christopher Katongo James Chamanga | ||||
| 11 January 2022 | Group stage | 0–0 | |||||
| 15 January 2022 | 1–3 | Samuel Chukwueze Taiwo Awoniyi Moses Simon | |||||
| 15 January 2022 | 0–1 | Mohamed Abdelmonem |