Cameroon hosted the 1972 Africa Cup of Nations and till date it remains the only AFCON staged in the Central African country.
The 2021 competition is scheduled to take place in the country of Roger Milla, Samuel Eto’o, Patrick Mboma and co from January 9th to February 6th but what happened the last time they hosted Africa’s biggest soccer event?
The eight teams that qualified to participate in this edition were Cameroon (hosts), Congo, Mali, Morocco, Kenya, Togo, Zaire/Dr. Congo and Sudan (title holders). Note that Ghana failed to qualify for this edition.
Under guidance of domestic coach Adolphe Bibanzoulou, Congo defied all odds to grab their first and only to date AFCON title.
Cameroon – the host nation – were eliminated in the semifinals by Congo as Noel Birindi Minga scored the only goal of the epic encounter in Yaounde.
Congo reached the finals and defeated Mali by 3-2 to lift their only AFCON trophy.
Congo were placed in Group B where they started their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Morocco. That was followed by a 2-0 defeat to neighbors DR Congo (then Zaire).
Congo managed to beat holders Sudan 4-2 to reach the semifinals, where they defeated hosts Cameroon 1-0 to reach their first ever AFCON final.
A Second half brace from Jean-Michel M’Bono and one from Francois M’Pele gave the Red Devils a 3-2 victory over Mali as Congo celebrated the title.
