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In this report, Asharq Al-Awsat continues its series dedicated to tracking the history of African countries, the most prestigious competition on the African continent, and here we date with the sixteenth edition hosted by Morocco in 1988. March 13 to 27, 1988.

The tournament was supposed to be held in Zambia, but due to financial problems the Confederation of African Football withdrew the organization before assigning it to Algeria, which came back and apologized for not organizing after problems with the Confederation of African Football, so Morocco came forward. and was asked to hold the competition, and was actually given the right to organize it.

The qualifiers were conducted in a “home and away” knockout format in three stages: an initial stage where 24 teams were to complete the deal, then a second stage where 12 teams emerged and the other 12 teams competed for 6 seats.

Morocco (hosts), Egypt (reigning champions), Kenya (beating Madagascar and Zimbabwe), Algeria (beating Tunisia and Libya), Nigeria (beating Togo and Sierra Leone), Zaire (beating Angola and Senegal) qualified for the tournament. Cote d'Ivoire (beating Congo and Malawi), Cameroon (beating Uganda and Sudan).

Participating teams were divided into two groups, the first comprising Morocco, Algeria, Zaire and Cote d'Ivoire, and played in Casablanca, while the second comprised Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria and Kenya, whose matches were held in the capital Rabat. .

As a result of the first group, the Moroccan national team took the top spot with four points after their victory over Algeria and drew with both Zaire and Cote d'Ivoire, while the Algerian national team followed suit with three points to advance to the semi-finals. Zaire drew with Cote d'Ivoire and lost to Morocco, while the Zairean and Ivorian teams had a bye. The match is in the first round.

As for the second group, Nigeria topped the table with four points after a win over Kenya and a draw with Cameroon and Egypt, while Cameroon also followed suit with four points after a win over Egypt to tie both Nigeria and Kenya. Meanwhile, defending champions Egypt were knocked out in the first round.

In the first semi-final, the Nigerian national team defeated Algeria on penalties after a 1-1 draw after regular and extra time, thus qualifying the Premier Eagles for the finals of the tournament.

In the second match, the Cameroon national team defeated their Moroccan team with a clean sheet, scored by its star Maganaki, to qualify the Untamed Lions for the final of the Nations Cup.

In the third-place match, Algeria beat Morocco on penalties, 1-1 at the end of regular and extra time, to give the Desert Warriors the bronze medal, while the Atlas Lions settled for fourth place for the second time. in a row.

The final was between Cameroon and Nigeria, a follow-up to the 1984 final, with Cameroon star Emmanuel Konde scoring a penalty kick goal in the second half to give his country victory, and the unheralded Lions' second title in history. .

For the best team in the tournament: This: Goalkeeper: Joseph Antoine Bale (Cameroon). Defensive line: Tijani El Mataoui (Morocco), Emmanuel Gounte (Cameroon), Stephen Tata (Cameroon), John Buana (Zaire). Midfield: Jack Kinkomba Kingambo (Zaire), Henry Nwosu (Nigeria), Emily Mbou (Cameroon), Paul Moffitt (Cameroon), Forward: Roger Milla (Cameroon), Aziz Bouderbala (Morocco).