Tournament Format
Only one team can qualify for the tournament from each group, the exception being South Zone which is allowed two teams. The competition hosts automatically qualify. In total, eight nations will compete in the full tournament.
Once qualified for the competition, there are two Pools — A and B — drawn at random; each pool consists of four nations.
The third- and fourth-placed teams in each pool are eliminated. The winner of group A plays the runner up of group B, and the winner of group B plays the runner up of group A. A third place playoff is played between the two nations who lost the semifinal games.
The final match is played between the winners of the semifinal games.
On 8 March 2009, Democratic Republic of the Congo defeated Ghana 2–0 to become the first winner of the tournament.
Read more about this topic: African Nations Championship