The 1965 African Cup of Nations was the fifth edition of the biennial African association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) hosted in Tunisia from 12 and 21 November 1965. This was the final edition of the tournament to be held in an odd-numbered year before 2013. The growing enthusiasm for the competition and the increasing number of participating teams led to an increase in the number of participants in the tournament, which rose from four to six teams.
Two of them qualified automatically, the host country Tunisia and the defending champion Ghana. A first round was determined by two groups of three teams, then the final (for the top teams in each group) and a third-place match for the teams that finished second.
Ethiopia is the only team to have participated in every edition of the Africa Cup of Nations since its inception. Egypt (twice winner in 1957 and 1959) refused to participate due to the diplomatic crisis with Tunisia. Sudan also failed to qualify after stumbling in the qualifiers. Congo-Léopoldville, Senegal and Ivory Coast are participating in the finals for the first time. Ghana retained its title, beating Tunisia in the final 3–2 after extra time. This was Ghana's second African championship title in two participations.
Four places were avaliable to the thirteen countries participating in these qualifications. Tunisia, the tournament organizer, and Ghana, the defending champion, qualified automatically.
Egypt qualified from Zone 1 after Morocco and Nigeria withdrew before the start of the qualifiers, but later withdrew due to the deterioration of its diplomatic relations with Tunisia after a speech given by Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba in Jericho in which he called on Arab countries to recognize Israel.[1]
Sudan, called upon to take Egypt's place, declined the invitation: a single playoff match was then scheduled in Accra on 31 October between Congo-Léopoldville and Guinea.
However, Guinea withdrew shortly before this date; therefore, the playoff was scratched and Congo-Léopoldville qualified.
If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking:
