The 1965 African Cup of Nations was the fifth edition of the African Cup of Nations, the biennial African association football tournament organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It was hosted by Tunisia from 12 to 21 November 1965. This was the final edition of the tournament to be held in an odd-numbered year until 2013.
The growing enthusiasm for the competition and the increasing number of participating teams led to an increase in the number of participants in the tournament, which rose from four to six teams. Two sides qualified automatically: the host country Tunisia and the defending champions Ghana. A first round was determined by two groups of three teams, then the final (for the top teams in each group) and a third-place match for the teams that finished second.
Ethiopia was the only team to have participated in every edition of the African Cup of Nations since its inception. Egypt (twice winner in 1957 and 1959) refused to participate due to the diplomatic crisis with Tunisia. Sudan also failed to qualify after stumbling in the qualifiers. Congo-Léopoldville, Senegal and Ivory Coast participated in the finals for the first time.
Ghana retained its title, beating hosts Tunisia in the final 3–2 after extra time. This was Ghana's second African title in two participations.
Teams Four places were available to the thirteen countries participating in these qualifications. Tunisia, the tournament organizer, and Ghana, the defending champion, qualified automatically. Egypt qualified from Zone 1 after Morocco and Nigeria withdrew before the start of the qualifiers, but later withdrew due to the deterioration of its diplomatic relations with Tunisia after a speech given by Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba in Jericho in which he called on Arab countries to recognize Israel.
Sudan, called upon to take Egypt's place, declined the invitation: a single playoff match was then scheduled in Accra on 31 October between Congo-Léopoldville and Guinea. However, Guinea withdrew shortly before this date; therefore, the playoff was scratched and Congo-Léopoldville qualified.
Qualified teams Team Method ofqualification Date ofqualificationFinalsappearanceLastappearance Previous appearances in tournament Hosts 3rd1963 (1962, 1963) Holders 2nd1963 (1963) 1st round winners 5th1963 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963) 1st round winners 1stNone (debut) 1st round winners 1stNone (debut) 1st round winners 1stNone (debut) Notes
Squads
Venues Tunis Sfax Chedly Zouiten Stadium Taieb Mhiri StadiumCapacity: 20,000Capacity: 11,000 Sousse Bizerte Bou Ali Lahouar Stadium Stade Ahmed BsiriCapacity: 6,500Capacity: 2,000
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: Goal average in all group matches Drawing of lots
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage Third place match
Final
GK 1John Bortey Naawu DF6Willie Evans DF3Charles Addo Odametey (c) DF8Sam Acquah DF16Ben Kusi MF7Oman Mensah MF11Kofi Pare MF17Kwame Nti FW10Cecil Jones Attuquayefio FW14Osei Kofi MF15Frank Odoi Substitutions: – Manager:Charles Gyamfi GK 1Sadok SassiDF 2Mahfoudh BenzartiDF 3Hédi DouiriDF 4Mohsen HabachaMF 5Ahmed LamineMF 6Abdelmajid Chetali (c)MF 8Tahar ChaïbiMF 16Moncef Ajel FW 7Aleya SassiFW 9Rachid Gribaâ FW 12Salah JedidiSubstitutions:FW –Abdelwahab Lahmar Manager:Mokhtar Ben Nacef
Goalscorers
Tournament rankings
References
External links Details at RSSSF