Draw
The draw for the final tournament took place on 29 October 2011 at the Sipopo Conference Palace in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. The draw ceremony was attended by the two presidents from the host countries, President Ali Bongo of Gabon and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea. The draw saw the 16 qualified teams being pitted into four groups of four teams each. The two top teams from each group will qualify for the quarter finals with the winners progressing to the semi finals and final eventually.
The two hosts were automatically seeded into pot 1. The other 14 qualified teams were ranked based on their performances during the last three Africa Cup of Nations, i.e. the 2006, 2008 and 2010 editions. For each of the last three African Cup of Nations final tournaments, the following system of points is adopted for the qualified countries:
| Classification | Points awarded |
|---|---|
| Winner | 7 |
| Runner-up | 5 |
| Losing semi-finalists | 3 |
| Losing quarter-finalists | 2 |
| Eliminated in 1st round | 1 |
Moreover, a weighted coefficient on points was given to each of the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations as follows:
- 2010 edition: points to be multiplied by 3
- 2008 edition: points to be multiplied by 2
- 2006 edition: points to be multiplied by 1
The teams were then divided into four pots based on the ranking. Each group contained one team from each pot.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Equatorial Guinea |
Angola |
Mali |
Sudan |
Read more about this topic: 2012 Africa Cup Of Nations
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