The 1980 African Cup of Nations was the 12th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa (CAF). It was hosted by Nigeria. Just like in 1978, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. Nigeria won its first championship, beating Algeria in the final 3−0.

Qualified teams

thumb|Participating nations

The 8 qualified teams are:

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

|-

! Team

! Qualified as

! Qualified on

! Previous appearances in tournament

|-

| || Hosts || || (1963, 1976, 1978)

|-

| || Holders || || (1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1978)

|-

| || 2nd round winners || || (1965, 1968, 1970, 1974)

|-

| || 2nd round winners || || (1972, 1976, 1978)

|-

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

|-

| || 2nd round winners || || (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1970, 1974, 1976)

|-

| || 2nd round winners || || (1970, 1974, 1976)

|-

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

|}

;Notes

Squads

Venues

The competition was played in two venues in Lagos and Ibadan.

<div style="text-align: center;">

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|-

! Lagos

| rowspan="8" |

|-

| Surulere Stadium

|-

| Capacity: 80,000

|-

| 150px

|-

!Ibadan

|-

|Liberty Stadium

|-

|Capacity: 35,000

|-

|150px

|}

</div>

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

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Group B

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Knockout stage

Semi-finals

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Third place match

Final

CAF Team of the Tournament

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto"

|-

! Goalkeepers

! Defenders

! Midfielders

! Forwards

|-

| align=left valign=top |

Best Ogedegbe

| align=left valign=top |

Mustapha Kouici <br> Mohamed Salah El-Din <br> Moussa Camara <br> Christian Chukwu

| align=left valign=top |

Lakhdar Belloumi <br> Ali Fergani <br> Mahmoud El Khatib <br> Shawky Gharieb

| align=left valign=top |

Salah Assad <br> Segun Odegbami

|}

Goalscorers

  • Details at RSSSF