1974 African Cup of Nations qualification

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Qualification for championships (CAF)
FIFA World Cup 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Africa Cup of Nations 1962 1963 1965 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023
v t

This page details the process of qualifying for the 1974 African Cup of Nations which was held in Egypt in March 1974. Eight teams qualified for the finals, including Egypt as hosts and Congo as the holders of the title, having won the 1972 tournament in Cameroon.

Qualification followed a knock-out model, with teams playing two-legged ties with another, one match being played at a home venue for each team. After a preliminary round, 24 teams competed in the first round of qualification. The winners went on to the second round with the winning teams from those ties qualifying for the finals. Matches were held between March and July 1973. A number of teams withdrew at the preliminary or first round stages of the tournament with their scheduled opponents automatically progressing to the next round. After winning their first round match the Central African Republic were disqualified and their opponents, Ivory Coast progressed to the second round, eventually reaching the finals.

Alongside Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mauritius, Uganda, Zaire and Zambia reached the finals, Uganda having taken part in the preliminary round of the qualification process.

Qualifying Tournament[]

Preliminary round[]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Somalia	2–5	Uganda	2–0	0–5
Central African Republic	w/o	Gabon	—	—
Sierra Leone	w/o	Dahomey	—	—

Uganda won 5–2 on aggregate.

---

Central African Republic progress, Gabon withdrew.

---

Sierra Leone progress, Dahomey withdrew.

First round[]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Sierra Leone	3–5	Mali	1–1	2–4
Ghana	3–3 (5–3 p)	Senegal	3–2	0–1
Central African Republic	5–6{	Ivory Coast	4–2	1–5
Ethiopia	2–4	Tanzania	2–1	0–3
Lesotho	1–5	Mauritius	0–0	1–5
Sudan	2–3	Nigeria	1–1	1–2
Upper Volta	1–9	Zaire	0–5	1–4
Uganda	3–1	Kenya	1–0	2–1
Zambia	4–3	Madagascar	3–1	1–2
Algeria	w/o	Libya	—	—
Cameroon	w/o	Niger	—	—
Guinea	w/o	Togo	—	—

Mali won 5–3 on aggregate.

---

Ghana won 5–3 on penalties after 3–3 on aggregate.

---

Ivory Coast won 6-5 on aggregate.

---

Tanzania won 4–2 on aggregate.

---

Mauritius won 5–1 on aggregate.

---

Nigeria won 3–2 on aggregate.

---

Zaire won 9–1 on aggregate.

---

Uganda won 3–1 on aggregate.

---

Zambia won 4–3 on aggregate.

---

Algeria progress, Libya withdrew.

---

Cameroon progress, Niger withdrew.

---

Guinea progress, Togo withdrew.

Second round[]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Cameroon	2–3	Zaire	2–1	0–2
Mali	3–3 (6–7 p)	Guinea	2–2	1–1
Uganda	3–2	Algeria	2–1	1–1
Tanzania	1–1 (3–4 p)	Mauritius	1–1	0–0
Ghana	0–4	Ivory Coast	0–3	0–1
Zambia	7–4	Nigeria	5–1	2–3

Zaire won 3–2 on aggregate.

---

Guinea won 7–6 on penalties after 3–3 on aggregate.

---

Uganda won 3–2 on aggregate.

---

Mauritius won 4–3 on penalties after 1–1 on aggregate.

---

Ivory Coast won 4–0 on aggregate.

---

Zambia won 7–4 on aggregate.

Qualified teams[]

The 8 qualified teams are:

Notes[]

External links[]

• CAN 1974 details - rsssf.com