The Total Futsal Africa Cup of Nations

The Total Futsal Africa Cup of Nations is a competition between the eight best futsal teams from across the African continent. What’s Futsal? It’s a type of football played on a small, hard-surface court between two teams of five players.

The Total Futsal Africa Cup of Nations tournament, which until 2015 was known as the African Futsal Championship, is a qualifying event for the FIFA Futsal World Cup, with the top three teams going on to represent Africa there. Each tournament includes a round-robin stage, followed by a championship match and a match to determine third place, and is held every four years.

Since the tournament’s inauguration, Egypt has emerged as the dominant force in African futsal, having placed either first or second in every edition. Egypt’s achievements include three straight gold medals—including back-to-back gold medals when they hosted the tournament in 1996 and 2000—and silver medals in 2008 and 2016. To date, Egypt is the only nation with more than one Total Futsal Africa Cup of Nations championship title.

Morocco will be defending its 2016 gold medal—a dramatic 3-2 victory over Egypt in the final—when the nation hosts the sixth edition of the tournament in 2020. The North African country is the second-most-decorated team in the history of the Total Futsal Africa Cup of Nations, with one gold, one silver and two bronze medals, followed by Libya, which won the championship in 2008 and came in third place in 2000. Mozambique, a runner-up in 2004, will be defending their 2016 bronze medal in 2020.

As hosts, Morocco will automatically qualify for the Total Futsal Africa Cup of Nations 2020 tournament. Egypt will also automatically qualify for the tournament, as they were the highest-ranked African team in the 2016 FIFA World Futsal World Cup. The remaining six teams will be determined through a qualifying tournament later this year. 

Key figures for the Total Futsal Africa Cup of Nations