AFCON silver medals have long symbolized how close countries has come to conquering African football’s biggest prize.
Since the Africa Cup of Nations was first staged in 1957, finishing as runners-up has often marked teams that combined quality, consistency, and resilience, even if the ultimate glory narrowly escaped them.
While winning the trophy remains the ultimate goal, finishing as runners-up is a strong indicator of a nation’s consistency, quality, and ability to compete at the highest level.
At the recently concluded 2025 AFCON, hosted by Morocco, the Atlas Lions narrowly missed out on lifting the trophy, settling for silver on home soil. That result took Morocco’s total AFCON silver medals to two, further underlining their growing pedigree in African football.
In this article, we explore Morocco’s place among AFCON’s runners-up elite and take a wider look at other countries that have also racked up multiple silver medals over the tournament’s rich history.
The Most AFCON Silver Medals
Ghana and Nigeria: 5 Silvers each
Ghana and Nigeria jointly hold the record for the most AFCON silver medals, with five runners-up finishes each.
Ghana finished second in 1968, 1970, 1992, 2010, and 2015.
Despite being four-time AFCON champions, the Black Stars are equally known for losing finals, often in heartbreaking fashion, including penalty shoot-outs in 1992 and 2015.
Nigeria were runners-up in 1984, 1988, 1990, 2000, and 2023.
The Super Eagles have a long history of reaching finals, and their most recent silver medal came after losing the 2023 final to hosts Côte d’Ivoire.
Together, Ghana and Nigeria symbolize sustained dominance in African football, even when ultimate victory narrowly slipped away.
Egypt: Three silvers
Egypt, Africa’s most successful AFCON nation, have finished runners-up three times:
- 1962
- 2017
- 2021
Although the Pharaohs boast a record seven AFCON titles, these runner-up finishes show that even Africa’s most decorated team has experienced painful defeats in finals, particularly in the modern era.
Countries with two AFCON Silver Medals
Several countries have reached the final twice without winning on those occasions:
- Sudan – 1959, 1963
- Senegal – 2002, 2019
- Cameroon – 1986, 2008
- Côte d’Ivoire – 2006, 2012
- Zambia – 1974, 1994
- Tunisia – 1965, 1996
For teams like Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, these silver medals preceded later triumphs, proving that repeated near-misses can eventually lead to championship success.
Countries with One AFCON Silver Medal
Several nations have reached the AFCON final once and finished as runners-up:
- Ethiopia – 1957
- Algeria – 1980
- Libya – 1982
- Mali – 1972
- Guinea – 1976
- Uganda – 1978
- South Africa – 1998
- Morocco – 2004
- Burkina Faso – 2013
For some of these teams, the runner-up finish remains the greatest achievement in their AFCON history.
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