2022 African Nations Championship


The 2022 African Nations Championship, known as the 2022 CHAN for short and the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 7th edition of the biennial association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football, featuring national teams consisting of players currently playing in their respective local leagues. It was held in Algeria from 13 January to 4 February 2023.
Originally scheduled from 10 July to 1 August 2022, CAF rescheduled the tournament to January 2023 following an announcement at an executive committee meeting held on 10 September 2020 via video conferencing, citing the postponement of the 2020 edition to 2021 and the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa as well as the already-scheduled 2022 FIFA World Cup in November – December 2022.
Eighteen teams were supposed to be contesting in this edition, which would have been an increase of 2 teams from the previous edition in 2020; but defending champions Morocco were unable to defend their title due to political tensions with Algerian authorities which began with Algeria's unilaterally decision in 2021 to close its airspace to Moroccan flights, including and especially its official carrier Royal Air Maroc.
Senegal won their first title, following on from 2021 [Africa Cup of Nations Final|their inaugural Africa Cup of Nations title win] a year earlier, 5–4 on penalties against host nation Algeria in the final.

Host selection

Algeria were officially named as hosts of the 2022 edition on 29 September 2018 at an executive committee meeting held at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Qualification

The qualification procedures were unveiled at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt on 26 May 2022 with the qualification itself running from 22 July to 4 September 2022.

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the main tournament:
Morocco was originally set to take part in the tournament with their under-23 national team after their local national team was officially disbanded by the FRMF on 31 August 2022. However, the team announced their withdrawal from the tournament on 12 January 2023, after hosts Algeria refused to allow the squad to take a direct flight from Rabat to Constantine via their flag carrier sponsor, Royal Air Maroc.
TeamZoneAppearancePrevious best performanceFIFA ranking
at start of event
Northern Zone2nd 40
Northern Zone5th 11
Northern Zone5th 120
Western Zone A3rd 19
Western Zone A3rd 103
Western Zone A5th 45
Western Zone B4th 122
Western Zone B4th 58
Western Zone B5th 47
Central Zone6th 73
Central Zone4th 99
Central Zone5th 33
Central Eastern Zone3rd 128
Central Eastern Zone3rd 138
Central Eastern Zone6th 89
Southern Zone1stDebut102
Southern Zone4th 117
Southern Zone2nd 114

Mascot

Algeria took the fennec fox as a mascot for the championship and named it "COBTAN". And the slogan of the edition was "CHAN fi bled a chène".

Venues

This edition of the tournament was confirmed by the Algerian Football Federation 1 August 2020 to be held in four venues at four cities across host nation Algeria: Algiers, Oran, Constantine and Annaba.
Team base camps
CityTeamHotelTraining site
Algiers CTN Sidi MoussaCTN Sidi Moussa
AlgiersGolden Tulip Royaume AlgerANNEXE - Nelson Mandela Stadium
AlgiersHotel Bay DiabANNEXE - Nelson Mandela Stadium
AlgiersMercure Hotel AéroportSalem Mabrouki Stadium
AnnabaComplexe Touristique SabriANNEXE - 19 May 1956 Stadium
AnnabaHotel Royal Elisa AnnabaANNEXE - Colonel Abdelkader Chabou Stadium
AnnabaHôtel Rym El DjamilANNEXE - 19 May 1956 Stadium
AnnabaHotel militaire annabaANNEXE - Colonel Abdelkader Chabou Stadium
ConstantineNovotel ConstantineANNEXE - Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium
ConstantineGolden Tulip Hotel AlexandreANNEXE - Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium
ConstantineGolden Tulip Hotel AlexandreEBRC
ConstantineHotel El KhayemEBRC
OranRodina Hotel OranStade des Castors
OranRodina Hotel OranStade des Castors
OranHotel Oran BayANNEXE 1 - Miloud Hadefi Stadium
OranHotel Vent Dôme KhaledANNEXE 1 - Miloud Hadefi Stadium
OranHotel Oran BayANNEXE 2 - Miloud Hadefi Stadium
OranPacha HotelANNEXE 2 - Miloud Hadefi Stadium

Draw

The draw for this edition was held at Boualem Bessaiah Opera House in the host nation's capital, Algiers, on 1 October 2022 at 18:00 WET.
The 18 teams were drawn into three groups of four teams and two groups of three. Hosts Algeria were seeded in Group A and defending champions Morocco were seeded in Group C, with the remaining teams were seeded based on their results the four previous editions of the tournament: 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 :
  • 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:
SeededPot 1Pot 2Pot 3

Squads

Each squad could contain a maximum of 28 players.

Match officials

The following 52 match officials officiated during the 2022 African Nations Championship.
;Referees
  • Lotfi Bekouassa
  • Patrice Milazare
  • Alhadi Allaou Mahamat
  • Kalilou Ibrahim Traoré
  • Mohamed Adel
  • Abdelaziz Bouh
  • Ibrahim Mutaz
  • Karim Sabry
  • Pierre Ghislain Atcho
  • Celso Armindo Alvação
  • Samuel Uwikunda
  • Vincentia Amédomé
  • Mahmood Ali Ismail
  • Messie Nkounkou
  • Mehrez Melki
  • Djindo Louis Hougnandande
  • Daouda Gueye
  • Abongile Tom
  • Blaise Yuven Ngwa
  • Emery Niyongabo
;Assistant referees
  • Akram Abbes Zerhouni
  • Sid Ali Brahim El Hamlaoui
  • Clemence Kanduku
  • Eric Ayimavo Ulrich Ayamr
  • Kwasi Brobbey
  • Hamedine Diba
  • Adou Hermann Desire Ngoh
  • Hamza Hagi Abdi
  • Modibo Samake
  • Dos Reis Abelmiro Montenegro
  • Ditsoga Boris Marlaise
  • Rodrigue Menye Mpele
  • Nouha Bangoura
  • Sanou Habib Judicael
  • Dieudonne Mutuyimana
  • Ivanildo Meirelles De O Sanche Lopes
  • Hensley Petrousse
  • Abdul Aziz Bollel Jawo
;Video assistant referees
  • Haythem Guirat
  • Lahlou Benbraham
  • Daniel Laryea
  • Mahmoud Ashor
  • Samir Guezzaz
  • Dahane Beida
  • Issa Sy
  • Pacifique Ndabihawenimana
  • Bamlak Tessema Weyesa
  • Peter Waweru Kamaku
  • Zakaria Brinsi
  • Mohammed Abdallah Ibrahim

Group stage

The top two teams of each group of 4 and the top team of each group of 3 advanced to the knockout stages.

Group A

----
----

Group B

----
----

Group C

----
----

Group D

----
----

Group E

----
----

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winners if necessary.

Quarter-finals

----
----
----

Semi-finals

----

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
Total Man of the Competition
Houssem Eddine Mrezigue
Top Scorer
Aymen Mahious
Best Goalkeeper
Pape Sy
Best Coach
fb|SENfb|SEN

Team of the Tournament

GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards
Pape Sy

Broadcasting rights

In Africa:
Regional Broadcasters
TerritoryBroadcasterRef.
Africa|name=Anglophone and Lusophone Sub-Saharan Africa