Africa Cup of Nations Africa Cup of Nations The CAF Africa Cup of Nations, officially CAN (), also referred to as AFCON, or Total Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main international association football competition in Africa. It is sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was first held in 1957. Since 1968, it has been held every two years. The title holders at the time of a FIFA Confederations Cup qualify for that competition. In 1957 there were only three participating nations: Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. South Africa was originally scheduled to compete, but were disqualified due to
2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the 31st edition of the international men's football championship of Africa. A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Gabon who qualified automatically as hosts. A total of 52 teams entered the tournament, including the hosts (Gabon) which qualified automatically for the final tournament. The draw for the qualification stage took place on 8 April 2015, immediately after the announcement