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The CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is the main international football competition in Africa; "CAF" stands for Confederation of African Football. The inaugural tournament was held in 1957. Over time, the  competition grew to 24 teams, with a qualifying tournament being introduced in 1962. Throughout the tournament’s history, three different trophies were awarded.  Each of the three-time winners (Ghana, Cameroon, and Egypt) earned the right to keep their trophies indefinitely. 

Following the formation of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 1957, the founding nations (Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Africa) organized the inaugural tournament the same year. However, South Africa was disqualified due to its apartheid policy, which meant that the tournament consisted of just two matches. Egypt won the first trophy after defeating hosts Sudan 2-0 and dismantling Ethiopia 4-0 in the final.

Two years later, the same three teams competed again, with Egypt claiming another trophy. In 1962, the field was expanded to nine teams, which necessitated the inclusion of a qualification round. The final tournament consisted of holders Egypt, hosts Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tunisia. Ethiopia won its first title by defeating Tunisia and outlasting Egypt in the final, winning the game in extra time.

The 1963 edition of the tournament was hosted by first-time participant Ghana, at the time they were a national team squad which modeled its game after Spanish giants Real Madrid. The Black Stars of Ghana won the tournament after beating Sudan in the final. Two years later, they repeated this historic feat as champions by recording three victories in three matches. Their mini-streak was broken by Congo-Kinshasa in 1968, at the first tournament to include eight teams instead of four.

The ‘70 saw four different nations win the tournament before Ghana claimed its third title in 1978 and they were awarded the original competition trophy to keep permanently. 

The 1974 edition marked the only time in the competition’s history that the final match had to be replayed due to a tie after extra time. The two involved nations – Zaire and Gambia – played the replay two days later, with Zaire winning 2-0.

The following decade was dominated by Cameroon and Algeria. From 1984 to 1988, Cameroon reached the final on three consecutive occasions, winning two titles in the process. Meanwhile, Algeria made it to the semi-finals in five out of six tournaments, though they had to wait until 1990 to claim their first title. 

In 1992, the tournament was expanded to include 12 participants, with teams being divided into four groups of three.

The four-group format was also used in 1994, with Nigeria winning its second title. In the finals, they defeated Zambia, a team that was still reeling from an air disaster which resulted in the deaths of 18 players and several staff members. 

The 1996 edition was hosted and won by South Africa, in their first tournament appearance after ending the apartheid rule. This was scheduled to be the first 16-team tournament, but Nigeria pulled out at the last minute.

In 2000, the AFCON was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, as the original host (Zimbabwe) failed to comply with the tournament specifications. Cameroon won its third title after prevailing in a penalty shootout against Nigeria in the final, earning the second trophy in perpetuity. Two years later, Cameroon repeated as champions by defeating Senegal in another penalty shootout.

Following Tunisia’s first victory in 2004, Egypt made history by winning three AFCON titles in a row and fully establishing itself as the most successful nation in the history of the competition. The first of those titles came on home soil, with Egypt defeating the Ivory Coast on penalties. The other two finals were mostly dry affairs, with Egypt scoring a single goal against both Cameroon and Ghana.

After the 2012 AFCON, the tournament was moved to the odd-numbered years to prevent interference with the World Cup. As a result, the next edition of the tournament was played the very next year. In 2017, two further changes were announced: the AFCON would expand from 16 to 24 teams and it would start taking place during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer. These changes were introduced at the 2019 AFCON, which was won by Algeria.

Source Information: https://www.footballhistory.org/tournament/africa-cup-of-nations.html

 The Africa Cup of Nations Trophy is a gold-plated cup trophy designed and made in Italy. It was unveiled in 2001 and was first awarded in 2002 when Cameroon won the tournament. 

 Egypt later won the gold-plated trophy indefinitely after they became three-time champions in 2010.   However, unlike the previous winners who would have then taken the trophy home, Egypt was presented with a special full-size replica which they were allowed to keep. 

 Apart from the prize money, the winners of each edition have since then only received a replica of the trophy to keep. The dimensions of  the replica are equal to that of the original trophy.

The AFCON trophy is among the most expensive trophies in the world as it is currently estimated to be worth around $150,000. It comes behind the Ballon d’Or and FA Cup trophies which are estimated at $600,000 and $1,180,000, respectively.

However, the FIFA World Cup trophy tops all trophies with an estimated worth of a whopping $20,000,000.

Source Information: https://theinformant247.com/explainer-what-is-the-worth-of-afcon-trophy/