Top 10 Greatest AFCON Moments In Football History (Ranked)

Top 10 Greatest AFCON Moments In Football History

The African Cup of Nations is one of the greatest football competitions in the World with the ability on show, but also it's quirks and comedic incidents that seem to occur every four years. We put together a list of the top 10 most iconic moments in AFCON history! Here we go:

No.10

The First Official Goal Now this may not be the start you were expecting, with some hilarious iconic moments. But we thought it would be rude not to include the goal that started it all.

In 1957, Raafar Attia wrote his name in the history books, scoring AFCON's first every goal, on February 10th. The goal did not come in spectacular fashion, as Attia converted from the penalty spot, as Egypt took the lead against the first ever hosts Sudan.

No.9

AFCON's longest night In 1992 the AFCON final went all the way with Ivory Coast and Ghana taking each other to penalties, with the score ending goalless after 120 minutes of Football.

For the first time in a major international final, every player on the pitch was required to take a kick. It was a nightmare for Anthony Baffoe of Ghana who could not convert from 12 yards. The final score 11-10 to the Elephants, who celebrated long into the night.

No.8

Games the Game AFCON often has it's iconic crowd moments each year, and in 2025 we've already got it. One Tanzania supporter couldn't keep his eyes on the game, as he was soley focused on the task at hand.

With his team losing 2-1 in their opening game to Nigeria, this fan found himself flirting with his rival fans! One thing's for sure he was leaving the game with something, either three points or something more.

This image captures a moment during the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 football match between Nigeria and Tanzania.

The image shows a male fan wearing a Tanzania jersey kissing a female fan in a Nigeria jersey in the stands.

SHEY NA LOVE BE THIS ABI NA WETIN🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/Nb1HJEhfA7

— STRIKER (@Mr___Ambassador) December 25, 2025

No.7

Zambia’s Emotional Journey In 1993, we saw the tragedy of the Zambian National team, where their plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after leaving Gabon. A total of 18 players were killed, along with everyone else onboard.

The story is one full of sadness, but had some beauty behind, as the following year the nation rallied together to support the team at the 1994 AFCON, where the team defied all odds by reaching the final, losing 2-1 to Nigeria. The tournament united the country together and showed football is bigger than the game itself.

No.6

Benni McCarthy’s Foursome Now the title may throw you off, but yes, Benni McCarthy struck four times in one night, in a game against Nambia.

McCarthy had the best 13 minutes of his life, netting four times and announcing himself on the world stage. His record is still yet to be beaten: the fastest quartet of goals the competition has ever seen.

No.5

Personal Space? Not in AFCON AFCON keeps producing as during a U23 AFCON game the camera man had a howler, creating one of Football's most iconic Meme's in recent years.

Focusing in on Brahima Diarra the Mali U23 International at the time, who could not focus during the national anthems with the camera not panning along typical fashion, but focusing on Diarra as if the Camera man was in love.

This tweet has been going viral on Twitter… 👀😭

Leicester are reportedly interested in signing 20 year-old Brahima Diarra from Huddersfield… He is that guy from the iconic meme 🤣👏🏼

Camera man got in his face last year during the Mali national anthem at the U23 AFCON & he… pic.twitter.com/EteyRdsz7Q

— Rising Ballers (@RisingBallers_) April 17, 2024

No.4

Angolian Superman? In a game against Burkina Faso, a 30-year-old keeper Neblu found himself handling the ball outside the area denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

The outcome? A red card you would think, well no the referee only showed a yellow leaving everyone in shock. This crazy moment provided more than just the visuals, with the commentator shouting "You can't do that!" The clip sits in number four for providing two funny moments in one.

No.3

Maradona in disguise? In 2023 we saw the recreation of Diego Maradona's hand of god (An attempt to). Gambia's Muhammed Sanneh punched the ball into the net against Cameroon in the 93rd minute to equalise.

Some may say it's Maradona like, but for us it was ordered on Wish. The Gambian international could not have made it more obvious and luckily for Cameroon VAR intervend, disallowing the goal. Sanneh recieved a yellow card in the moment, but it perhaps should have been more.

Muhammed Sanneh attempting the Hand of God ✊ pic.twitter.com/xUsET8Na5j

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 24, 2024

##No.2

Laurent Pokou’s Five-Goal Masterclass A much more serious moment sits in number 2. Laurent Pokou etched himself in history becoming the first player to score five in a game in the competition.

As Ivory Coast faced Ethiopia in 1970, the striker transformed the match into his personal canvas, socring five of Ivory Coasts six goals in their 6-1 win. The game gave Pokou a Legendary status for the rest of his life.

No.1

Who Needs 90 Minutes Anyway? In 2024, we had arguably AFCON's most iconic moment as the referee decided he'd seen enough, blowing for full time despite only playing 85 minutes.

Tunisia found themselves a goal down to Mali, and were chasing the equaliser, only for referee Janny Sikazwe to call it early. However he continued the game much to the relief of Tunisa, but once again blew early in the 89th! increasing their fury.

The incident was looked at and blamed on 'Heatstroke' by the Zambian Referee. A matter of days after the competition, Sikazwe announced he would be walking away from the sport. probably for the best.

Referee Janny Sikazwe ends Tunisia vs Mali early despite two VAR checks, a red card, and a cooling break.

Tunisia, who were trailing 1-0 but with a man advantage, weren’t too happy about it…

pic.twitter.com/KWfbvLizXI

— Daily Mail Sport (@MailSport) January 12, 2022