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Afro-Asian Cup of Nations

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Afro-Asian Cup of Nations
Organising bodyCAF and AFC
Founded1978; 47 years ago (1978)
Abolished2007; 18 years ago (2007)
RegionAfrica
Asia
Number of teams2
Last champions Japan (2007)
Most successful team(s) Japan (2 titles)

The Afro-Asian Cup of Nations, also called the AFC Asia/Africa Challenge Cup, was an intercontinental football competition endorsed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), contested between representative nations from these confederations, usually the winners of the Africa Cup of Nations and the winners of the AFC Asian Cup or the Asian Games. All editions were official competitions of CAF and AFC[1]

History

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  • The first edition was in 1978. Iran defeated Ghana 3–0 in the first leg, but the second leg was cancelled due to political problems in Iran, and the trophy was not awarded.
  • The competition was completed in 1985, 1987, 1991, 1993 and 1995, but the 1989 competition was cancelled.
  • The 1997 edition was severely delayed to 1999, while the "true" 1999 edition (between Egypt and Iran) was also cancelled.
  • The competition was discontinued following a CAF decision on July 30, 2000, after AFC representatives had supported Germany rather than South Africa in the vote for hosting the 2006 World Cup. The competition was scheduled to be resumed in 2005 with the match Tunisia-Japan, but was then cancelled once again.
  • The competition resumed in 2007 under the name "AFC Asia/Africa Challenge Cup". The 2008 edition was scheduled to be played in November 2008 between Iraq and Egypt in the neutral venue of Saudi Arabia, but was eventually cancelled.

Results and statistics

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List of Afro-Asian Cup of Nations matches
Year Team 1 Score Team 2 Venue Location Attendance
1978
Iran
3–0
Ghana
Aryamehr Stadium Tehran, Iran 8,000
Cancelled[n 1] Accra Sports Stadium Accra, Ghana
The trophy was not awarded, because the second leg was cancelled.
Year Winners Score Runners-up Venue Location Attendance
1985
Cameroon
4–1
Saudi Arabia
Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium Yaoundé, Cameroon 80,000
1–2 King Fahd Stadium Taif, Saudi Arabua 20,000
Cameroon won 5–3 on aggregate.
1987
South Korea
1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–3 p)

Egypt
Khalifa International Stadium Doha, Qatar 15,000
1991
Algeria
1–2
Iran
Azadi Stadium Tehran, Iran 100,000
1–0 Stade du 5 Juillet Algiers, Algeria 30,000
Aggregate 2–2, Algeria won on away goals.
1993
Japan
1–0 (a.e.t.)
Ivory Coast
National Stadium Tokyo, Japan 53,302
1995
Nigeria
3–2
Uzbekistan
Pakhtakor Central Stadium Tashkent, Uzbekistan 55,000
1–0 National Stadium Lagos, Nigeria 60,000
Nigeria won 4–2 on aggregate.
1997
South Africa
1–0
Saudi Arabia
Green Point Stadium Cape Town, South Africa 20,000
0–0 King Fahd International Stadium Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 50,000
South Africa won 1–0 on aggregate.
2007
Japan
4–1
Egypt
Nagai Stadium Osaka, Japan 41,901

Most successful national teams

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Team Winners Runners-Up
 Japan 2 (1993, 2007)
 Cameroon 1 (1985)
 South Korea 1 (1987)
 Algeria 1 (1991)
 Nigeria 1 (1995)
 South Africa 1 (1997)
 Saudi Arabia
2 (1985, 1997)
 Egypt
2 (1987, 2007)
 Iran
1 (1991)
 Ivory Coast
1 (1993)
 Uzbekistan
1 (1995)

Results by confederation

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Confederation Winners Runners-up
CAF 4 (1985, 1991, 1995, 1997) 3 (1987, 1993, 2007)
AFC 3 (1987, 1993, 2007) 4 (1985, 1991, 1995, 1997)

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The second leg of the 1978 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations between Ghana and Iran was cancelled due to the Iranian Revolution. In the first leg, Iran beat Ghana 3–0.

References

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  1. ^ "Ahmad Ahmad confident that Afro-Asia".
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