AFCON 2023: Which national team has won the Africa Cup of Nations most often? Complete list of winners

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations gets underway in Ivory Coast on Saturday 13 January, with the host nation kicking off the tournament against Guinea-Bissau at Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan, which will also host the final on Sunday 11 February.

As the official name of the upcoming edition suggests, the competition was initially due to take place in June and July 2023 as part of the attempt to move AFCON to the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, which had been deemed necessary to reduce scheduling conflicts with European clubs. However, this is the second tournament in succession that has been switched back to the historical time slot - and in this case postponed - due to “climactic conditions”.

Salah, Osimhen and Mané among AFCON 2023 stars

As a result, clubs across Europe - and beyond - are feeling the frustrations of losing key players - including Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Victor Osimhen of Napoli, Sadio Mané of Al Nassr - at crucial point of their domestic seasons, although all will be fully committed to bringing international success to their countries.

Holders Senegal favourites to defend title?

According to sports analytics company Opta, 2021 winners Senegal, led by Mané, are given the best chance of lifting a trophy they had never previously won until two years ago.

Hosts Ivory Coast, winners in 1992 and 2015, are ranked second favourites to become the 12th hosts to emerge victorious, followed by Morocco, who have only won once (1976) and two-time winners Algeria.

AFCON’s most prolific winners

In the next batch of nations, according to Opta, are those who have been the most successful in the history of the competition. Salah’s Egypt have won a record seven Africa Cups of Nations, one as the United Arab Republic (when they had a brief political union with Syria), but none since 2010, which was their third in a row.

Cameroon are five-time winners, most recently in 2017, with Ghana one behind on four, although their last victory came all the way back in 1982. Nigeria, often cited as one of the best Africa teams in the 1990s, may feel they have underperformed with only three victories, the most recent of which was in 2013.

Africa Cup of Nations victories by country

Africa Cup of Nations winners by tournament