The 1981 African Cup of Nations , the eleventh African Cup of Nations , took place between December 15 and 23, 1981 in Mogadishu , Somalia , where the championship was held for the first time. The winner was the national team of Ivory Coast , which was able to win the title for the first time, with the third finals in a row. In the final Egypt could be defeated. For the first time a team from Mozambique and Zimbabwe took part in the tournament.
In the preliminary round there were two groups (group A and B) of five (group A) and six (group B) teams. Each team played against each other exactly once, so that each team played exactly four (Group A) or five (Group B) games (a total of 25 games were played). There were two points for each win and one point for a defeat. The two teams with the highest points moved into the semi-finals. In the event of a tie, the direct comparison decided . In the semifinals, the teams placed first played against the second placed teams in the other group. The third placed played for fifth, the fourth placed seventh and the fifth placed ninth. As the last in Group B, Zimbabwe was automatically last of the tournament.
Ivory Coast (1st title)
Mogadishu
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Egypt Algeria Angola Ivory Coast Mauritania Mozambique Senegal Zimbabwe Somalia Tunisia People's Republic of the Congo
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