2016 African Nations Championship

The 2016 African Nations Championship, also known for short as the 2016 CHAN and for sponsorship purposes as the Orange African Nations Championship, was the 4th edition of the biennial African association football tournament organized by CAF featuring national teams consisting of players playing in their respective national leagues. It was held in Rwanda from 16 January to 7 February 2016.

The defending champions Libya failed to qualify for this edition. It was the first edition which featured the semi-final stage consisting of the runners-up from all 4 groups and the last to be sponsored by Orange as French energy and petroleum giant Total was set to take over from the following edition onward.

Rwanda qualified automatically as hosts with the remaining spots being determined by the qualifying rounds which took place between June and October 2015.

CAF approved 4 stadiums provided by the Rwanda Football Federation.

All teams consisted of a maximum of 23 players.

The draw for this edition of the tournament took place on 15 November 2015, 72 hours earlier than planned, at 18:30 CAT (UTC+2), in Kigali. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four.

The teams were seeded based on their results in the previous 3 editions: 2009 (multiplied by 1), 2011 (multiplied by 2) and 2014 (multiplied by 3):

• 7 points for winner
• 5 points for runner-up
• 3 points for semi-finalists
• 2 points for quarter-finalists
• 1 point for group stage

Based on the formula above, the four pots were allocated as follows:

The top two teams of each group advanced to the knockout stage.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order:

1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
4. If, after applying criteria 1 to 3 to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 7 apply;
5. Goal difference in all games;
6. Goals scored in all games;
7. Drawing of lots.

All times were local; CAT (UTC+2).

In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time would be played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by kicks from the penalty mark to determine the winner, except for the third place match where no extra time would be played.

Below is the list of goalscorers.

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Below is the list of awards.

• Best Player: Elia Meschak (DR Congo)
• Top scorer: Elia Meschak (DR Congo): 4 goals and two assist
• Goal of the Tournament: Serge N'Guessan (Côte d’Ivoire) against Cameroon
• Fair Play Trophy: DR Congo
• Best XI
  • Goalkeeper: Ley Matampi (DR Congo)
  • Defenders: Abdoul Karim Danté (Mali), Joël Kimwaki (DR Congo), Cheick Ibrahim Comara (Côte d’Ivoire), Mohamed Youla (Guinea)
  • Midfielders: Ibrahima Sory Sankhon (Guinea), Mechack Elia (DR Congo), N’Guessan Serge (Côte d’Ivoire), Hamidou Sinayoko (Mali)
  • Forwards: Jonathan Bolingi (DR Congo), Sekou Koïta (Mali)
  • Substitutes: Badra Ali Sangaré (Côte d’Ivoire), Djigui Diarra (Mali), Lomalisa Mutambala (DR Congo), Heritier Luvumbu (DR Congo), Daouda Camara (Guinea), Aka Essis (Côte d’Ivoire), Ernest Sugira (Rwanda), Ahmed Akaïchi (Tunisia), Elvis Chisom Chikataba (Nigeria), Christopher Katongo (Zambia)

Below is the final ranking.

1. DR Congo
2. Mali
3. Ivory Coast
4. Guinea
5. Zambia
6. Cameroon
7. Rwanda
8. Tunisia
9. Nigeria
10. Morocco
11. Angola
12. Uganda
13. Zimbabwe
14. Gabon
15. Ethiopia
16. Niger

• Official website (archived) at CAFOnline.com