The 1974 African Cup of Nations was the ninth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (CAF). It was hosted by Egypt.

Just like in 1972, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. Zaire won its second championship (their first win came as Congo-Kinshasa), tying Zambia 2−2 in the final and beating them 2−0 in the replay. Zaire went on to compete in the World Cup later that year. Both finalists were 2 best teams in African qualification to 1974 World Cup.

Qualified teams

The 8 qualified teams are:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left;"

|-

! Team

! Qualified as

! Qualified on

! Previous appearances in tournament

|-

| || Hosts || || (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1970)

|-

| || Holders || || (1968 1972)

|-

| || 2nd round winners || || (1970)

|-

| || 2nd round winners || || (debut)

|-

| || 2nd round winners || || (1962, 1968)

|-

| || 2nd round winners || || (1965, 1968, 1970, 1972)

|-

| || 2nd round winners || || (debut)

|-

| || 2nd round winners || || (1965, 1968, 1970)

|}

;Notes

Squads

Venues

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;margin:1em auto;"

|-

!width=160|Cairo!!rowspan=8|

!width=160|Alexandria

|-

|Cairo International Stadium||Alexandria Stadium

|-

|150px||150px

|-

|Capacity: 95,000||Capacity: 13,660

|-

!width=160|El-Mahalla El-Kubra||Damanhour

|-

|El Mahalla Stadium||Ala'ab Damanhour Stadium

|-

|150px||150px

|-

|Capacity: 29,000||Capacity: 8,000

|}

Group stage

Tiebreakers

If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking:

  1. Goal difference in all group matches
  2. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
  3. Drawing of lots

Group A

<onlyinclude></onlyinclude>

----

----

Group B

<onlyinclude></onlyinclude>

----

----

Knockout stage

Semifinals

----

Third place match

Final

;Replay

Goalscorers

CAF Team of the tournament

Goalkeeper

  • Kazadi Mwamba

Defenders

  • Gabriel Dengaki
  • Dick Chama
  • Lobilo Boba
  • Hany Moustafa

Midfielders

  • Ndaye Mulamba
  • Farouk Gaafar
  • Hassan Shehata
  • Mayanga Maku

Forwards

  • Kakoko Etepé
  • Ali Abo Greisha

References

  • Details at RSSSF
  • Details at www.angelfire.com
  • footballmundial.tripod.com
  • www.world-results.net