The 2008 African Cup of Nations hosted by Ghana will be the 26th edition of the football championship of Africa. The tournament will start on 20 January, with the final being held on 10 February.

Ghana won the right to host the tournament after defeating Libya 9-3 in a vote among CAF (Confederation of African football) executive committee members in Cairo. South Africa withdrew their bid after winning the right to host the 2010 World Cup. The winner of the tournament will represent CAF at the 2009 FIFA Confederation Cup.

Ghana is located on the West coast of Africa, it was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of ancient kingdoms. The country achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957.

The African Cup of Nations is held every two years and has been since 1968; before that it had been held at irregular intervals.

Tournament statistics

Holders: Egypt
First ever winners of the tournament: Egypt (1957, by beating Ethiopia 4-0)
Most championship won: Egypt (5 times winners)
Most appearances in the final match: Ghana
Most appearances in the tournament: Egypt (20 times)

*Only Ghana and Cameroon have been back to back champions of the African Cup of Nations

This years African Cup of Nations will be wide open as anyone one of the teams from Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire & the holders Egypt have a chance of winning the tournament.

African football has grown from strength to strength over the years. A platform was built in 1996; after the Nigerian Super Eagles defeated Brazil in an exciting final during the Olympics (Nigeria won 3-2). Many of the Nigerian players went on to play for major European clubs. Since then, more and more African players are playing for top clubs and in particular, the English leagues have the most amount of African players playing than there has ever been.

To view a list of African players in the Premiership taking part in this year’s competition, please click here.

To view a list of players to watch out for this year, please click here.

To view the schedule for this year’s tournament, please click here.

If you would like to find out more about the African Cup of Nations or African football, please visit the CAF website, www.cafonline.com