1974 African Cup of Nations qualification

Football tournament
Qualification for championships (CAF)
FIFA World Cup
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This page details the process of qualifying for the 1974 African Cup of Nations which was held in Egypt in March 1974. Eight teams qualified for the finals, including Egypt as hosts and Congo as the holders of the title, having won the 1972 tournament in Cameroon.

Qualification followed a knock-out model, with teams playing two-legged ties with another, one match being played at a home venue for each team. After a preliminary round, 24 teams competed in the first round of qualification. The winners went on to the second round with the winning teams from those ties qualifying for the finals. Matches were held between March and July 1973. A number of teams withdrew at the preliminary or first round stages of the tournament with their scheduled opponents automatically progressing to the next round. After winning their first round match the Central African Republic were disqualified and their opponents, Ivory Coast progressed to the second round, eventually reaching the finals.

Alongside Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mauritius, Uganda, Zaire and Zambia reached the finals, Uganda having taken part in the preliminary round of the qualification process.

Qualifying tournament

Preliminary round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Somalia  2–5  Uganda 2–0 0–5
Central African Republic  w/o  Gabon
Sierra Leone  w/o  Dahomey
Somalia 2–0 Uganda
Uganda 5–0 Somalia

Uganda won 5–2 on aggregate.


Central African Republic Cancelled Gabon
Withdrew

Central African Republic progress, Gabon withdrew.


Sierra Leone Cancelled Dahomey
Withdrew

Sierra Leone progress, Dahomey withdrew.

First round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Sierra Leone  3–5  Mali 1–1 2–4
Ghana  3–3 (5–3 p)  Senegal 3–2 0–1
Central African Republic  5–6  Ivory Coast 4–2 1–5
Ethiopia  2–4  Tanzania 2–1 0–3
Lesotho  1–5  Mauritius 0–0 1–5
Sudan  2–3  Nigeria 1–1 1–2
Upper Volta  1–9  Zaire 0–5 1–4
Uganda  3–1  Kenya 1–0 2–1
Zambia  4–3  Madagascar 3–1 1–2
Algeria  w/o  Libya
Cameroon  w/o  Niger
Guinea  w/o  Togo
Sierra Leone 1–1 Mali
Bocoum 39'
Mali 4–2 Sierra Leone
Stade Mamadou Konaté, Bamako

Mali won 5–3 on aggregate.


Ghana 3–2 Senegal
Senegal 1–0 Ghana
Penalties
3–5

Ghana won 5–3 on penalties after 3–3 on aggregate.


Ivory Coast won 6–5 on aggregate.


Tanzania won 4–2 on aggregate.


Lesotho 0–0 Mauritius
Mauritius 5–1 Lesotho

Mauritius won 5–1 on aggregate.


Sudan 1–1 Nigeria
Nigeria 2–1 Sudan

Nigeria won 3–2 on aggregate.


Upper Volta 0–5 Zaire
Zaire 4–1 Upper Volta

Zaire won 9–1 on aggregate.


Uganda 1–0 Kenya
Mukasa 3'
Kenya 1–2 Uganda
Chitechi 20' Mukasa 30'
Semwanga 50' (pen.)

Uganda won 3–1 on aggregate.


Zambia 3–1 Madagascar
Mugala 4', 58'
Chitalu 65'
Madagascar 2–1 Zambia
Chitalu 43'

Zambia won 4–3 on aggregate.


Algeria Cancelled Libya
Withdrew

Algeria progress, Libya withdrew.


Cameroon Cancelled Niger
Withdrew

Cameroon progress, Niger withdrew.


Guinea Cancelled Togo
Withdrew

Guinea progress, Togo withdrew.

Second round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Cameroon  2–3  Zaire 2–1 0–2
Mali  3–3 (6–7 p)  Guinea 2–2 1–1
Uganda  3–2  Algeria 2–1 1–1
Tanzania  1–1 (3–4 p)  Mauritius 1–1 0–0
Ghana  0–4  Ivory Coast 0–3 0–1
Zambia  7–4  Nigeria 5–1 2–3
Zaire 2–0 Cameroon

Zaire won 3–2 on aggregate.


Mali 2–2 Guinea
Stade Mamadou Konaté, Bamako
Guinea 1–1 Mali
Penalties
7–6

Guinea won 7–6 on penalties after 3–3 on aggregate.


Uganda 2–1 Algeria
Mukasa
Obua
Gamouh 33'
Attendance: 30,000
Algeria 1–1 Uganda
Hadefi 52' (pen.) Ouma 66'
Attendance: 13,481
Referee: ... (Egypt)

Uganda won 3–2 on aggregate.


Mauritius 0–0 Tanzania
Penalties
4–3

Mauritius won 4–3 on penalties after 1–1 on aggregate.


Ghana 0–3 Ivory Coast
Pokou
?
?

Ivory Coast won 4–0 on aggregate.


Zambia 5–1 Nigeria
Chanda 31'
Kaushi 58', 70'
Sinyangwe 60', 75' (pen.)
Iziebige 20'
Independence Stadium, Lusaka
Referee: ... (Lesotho)
Nigeria 3–2 Zambia
Kaushi
Chanda

Zambia won 7–4 on aggregate.

Qualified teams

The 8 qualified teams are:

Notes

External links

  • CAN 1974 details - rsssf.com
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Notes: The 2021 and 2023 tournaments were actually held in 2022 and 2024 respectively. • There were no 1957 and 1959 qualifications as places were given by invitation only. • The "finals" articles for 1959 and 1976 are about the decisive matches of final group stages.
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  1. ^ The match between Ivory Coast and Central African Republic was abandoned after Central African Republic refused to play the second half. The match was replayed on 29 July 1973 on neutral ground in Lagos, Nigeria.