The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).[1] Starting from this edition, the tournament was switched to being held in odd-numbered years instead of even-numbered years so that it does not clash with the FIFA World Cup.[2] This edition was therefore the first to be held in an odd numbered year since 1965.
South Africa hosted the tournament for the second time, after previously hosting the 1996 African Cup of Nations. The 2013 tournament is the highest attended edition of the Africa Cup of Nations under the 16-team format. The South African team was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Mali, following a penalty shoot-out. Zambia were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage.
Gabon / Equatorial Guinea (selected as hosts for 2012)
Libya (selected as hosts for 2013) Subsequently swapped hosting year with South Africa (2017)
Nigeria (selected as reserve hosts for 2010, 2012 & 2013 tournaments)
Rejected Bids :
Benin / Central African Republic
Botswana
Mozambique
Namibia
Senegal
Zimbabwe
On 4 September 2006, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) approved a compromise between rival countries to host the Africa Cup of Nations after it ruled out Nigeria. CAF agreed to award the next three editions from 2010 to Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Libya respectively. They assigned Angola in 2010, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, which submitted a joint bid in 2012, and Libya for 2014.
Two-time former host Nigeria was the reserve host for the 2010, 2012 and 2014 tournaments, in the event that any of the host countries failed to meet the requirements established by CAF, although this ended up being unnecessary
The 2014 tournament was pushed forward to 2013 and subsequently held in odd-numbered years to avoid year-clash with the FIFA World Cup.[2]
Libyan withdrawal
Due to the Libyan Civil War, Libya traded years with South Africa, so that South Africa hosted in 2013 and Libya will be hosting in 2017. This was ratified in September 2011 at CAF's Executive Committee in Cairo, Egypt.[4]
A total of 47 countries entered the qualification, including South Africa, which automatically qualified. Libya was not allowed to keep its automatic qualification after being stripped of its hosting rights due to the Libyan Civil War.
Many teams made their return to the finals in this tournament. The hosts, South Africa returned after a 4-year absence. Ethiopia appeared for the first time since 1982 (a 31-year absence). Other teams absent from the 2012 finals that featured in 2013 were Nigeria, Togo, DR Congo, and Algeria. Cape Verde made its finals debut. Teams that didn't qualify for this tournament from the 2012 African Cup of Nations were both co-hosts, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Senegal, Sudan, Guinea and Botswana. South Sudan was ineligible to participate as the qualifying competition had already started by the time its membership of CAF was confirmed.
Qualified nations
A map of Africa showing the qualified nations, highlighted by stage reached.
The South African Football Association opened bidding to all 2010 FIFA World Cup host cities[5] however a maximum of seven venues would be used.[6] The final list of stadiums was initially to be announced by 30 March,[7] but was pushed back to 4 April,[8] 20 April, and then 3 May 2012.[9]
The official match ball for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations was manufactured by Adidas and named the Katlego, which means "success" in Tswana language. The name was chosen by African football fans via an online voting competition where it beat alternate names, Khanya (light) and Motswako (mixture).[15]
Mascot
The official mascot of the tournament was Takuma, a hippopotamus wearing sports kit in South Africa's official yellow and green. The mascot was designed by Tumelo Nkoana, a 13-year-old South African student from Hammanskraal in Gauteng.[16]
Draw
The draw for the final tournament took place on 24 October 2012 in Durban.[17][18] Positions A1 and C1 were already assigned to the hosts (South Africa) and holders (Zambia) respectively.[19] The other 14 qualified teams were ranked based on their performances during the last three Africa Cup of Nations, i.e. the 2008, 2010 and 2012 editions.
Classification
Points awarded
Winner
7
Runner-up
5
Losing semi-finalists
3
Losing quarter-finalists
2
Eliminated in 1st round
1
Moreover, a weighted coefficient on points was given to each of the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations as follows:
In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner, except for the play-off for third place, where no extra time would be played.[19]
For teams eliminated in the same knockout round, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings:[34]
Goal difference in round eliminated;
Goals scored in round eliminated;
If teams eliminated in the semi-finals or quarter-finals are tied, the above criteria are reapplied for the previous knockout round, with this process repeated once more should two semi-finalists remain tied;
Points in group stage;
Goal difference in group stage;
Goals scored in group stage;
Disciplinary points.
For teams eliminated in the group stage, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings:[34]
South African public broadcaster SABC was the host broadcaster of the tournament. It paid R65 million (US$7.5 million) for the rights, which entitle it to transmit all of the games across its radio and television platforms.
