| region |
1998 |
2000 |
2002 |
| North |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| West |
5* |
6* |
8* |
| Central |
2* |
4* |
2* |
| East |
- |
- |
- |
| South |
5 |
2 |
2 |
*some sources count Cameroon
belonging to West Africa. Indeed the allocation of Countries to the regions
has not been consistent. Some have played in several regional championships.
Because it seems it is more appropriate now to allocate Cameroon to Central
this has been switched and differs from older tables in The Shot.
2002 representants are:
North: Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia,
Algeria
West: Ghana, Nigeria, Côte
d'Ivoire, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Mali
Central: DR Congo, Cameroon*
East: -
South: South Africa, Zambia
An impressive number of 8
West African teams compete for the title in the third successive Nations
Cup in the region. But only one of them Nigeria, has made it to the final
since Côte d'Ivoire had won the 1992 edition at Senegal.
Since, each region, with
the exception of East has won the cup once.
Nigeria 1994, South Africa
1996, Egypt 1998, and Cameroon 2000.
While the style of football
is more or less different, the success has been spread.
With the big exception: the
East where football keeps staying in the doldrums despite talent (typical
representants: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan). The region had been competitive
in the earlier times of the competition but Kenya has been the last participant
from the region 1992.
A mix of reasons has made
the populated region lose their meaning in African Football. A list of
the most populated African countries mkaes the lack of success even more
conspicious:
| country |
region |
population |
last NationsCup participation |
| Nigeria |
West |
120 M. |
2000 |
| Egypt |
North |
60 M. |
2000 |
| Ethiopia |
East |
60 M. |
1982 |
| DR Congo |
Central |
45 M. |
2000 |
| South Africa |
South |
40 M. |
2000 |
| Tanzania |
East |
30 M. |
1980 |
| Algeria |
North |
30 M. |
2000 |
| Kenya |
East |
30 M. |
1992 |
| Sudan |
East |
28 M. |
1976 |
| Morocco |
North |
27 M. |
2000 |
| Uganda |
East |
20 M. |
1978 |
|
