This page details the qualifying process for the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations in Nigeria. Nigeria, as hosts, and Ghana, as title holders, qualified automatically.

Qualifying tournament

 Ghana qualified as holders

 Nigeria qualified as hosts

Preliminary round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Madagascar	3–6	Malawi	2–1	1–5
Mauritius	2–2 (a)	Lesotho	0–1	2–1
Benin	w/o	Niger	—	—

3 December 1978

Madagascar	2–1	Malawi
		Phiri

Antananarivo

17 December 1978

Malawi	5–1	Madagascar
Phiri Billie Chamangwana Gondwe

Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre

Malawi won 6–3 on aggregate.

3 December 1978

Mauritius	0–1	Lesotho

Port Louis

17 December 1978

Lesotho	1–2	Mauritius
		Jacquotte ?

Maseru

Mauritius won by away goals rule after 2–2 on aggregate.

Benin	Cancelled	Niger
		Withdrew

Benin advanced after Niger withdrew.

First round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Mauritania	3–6	Morocco	2–2	1–4
Libya	3–2	Ethiopia	2–1	1–1
Guinea	3–3 (6–5 p)	Cameroon	3–0	0–3
Malawi	0–4	Zambia	0–2	0–2
Benin	2–4	Ivory Coast	1–0	1–4
Togo	2–1	Gambia	2–0	0–1
Congo	5–6	Zaire	4–2	1–4
Mauritius	3–6	Tanzania	3–2	0–4
Algeria	w/o	Burundi	—	—
Egypt	w/o	Somalia	—	—
Kenya	w/o	Tunisia	—	—
Sudan	w/o	Uganda	—	—

18 February 1979

Mauritania	2–2	Morocco
Lamine		Anafal Belhiouane

Stade de la Capitale, Nouakchott

8 April 1979

Morocco	4–1	Mauritania
Faras Saber Acila Anafal		Diop

Stade d'Honneur, Casablanca

Morocco won 6–3 on aggregate.

15 April 1979

Libya	2–1	Ethiopia
Al-Riani Belhaj

11 June Stadium, Tripoli

29 April 1979

Ethiopia	1–1	Libya
		Al-Riani

Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Ababa

Libya won 3–2 on aggregate.

15 April 1979

Guinea	3–0	Cameroon

Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry

29 April 1979

Cameroon	3–0	Guinea
Milla 14', 31', 41'
Penalties
	5–6

Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé

Guinea won 6–5 on penalty shootout after 3–3 on aggregate.

15 April 1979

Malawi	0–2	Zambia
		Chitalu Kaumba

Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre

29 April 1979

Zambia	2–0	Malawi
Chitalu Simbule 22'

Ndola

Zambia won 4–0 on aggregate.

15 April 1979

Benin	1–0	Ivory Coast

Cotonou

29 April 1979

Ivory Coast	4–1	Benin

Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan

Ivory Coast won 4–2 on aggregate.

16 April 1979

Togo	2–0	Gambia

Lomé

29 April 1979

Gambia	1–0	Togo

Box Bar Stadium, Banjul

Togo won 2–1 on aggregate.

15 April 1979

Congo	4–2	Zaire

Stade Alphonse Massemba-Débat, Brazzaville

29 April 1979

Zaire	4–1	Congo
Ngeleme 44' Mukendi Babo		Bahamboula 14'

Stade du 20 Mai, Kinshasa

Zaire won 6–5 on aggregate.

16 April 1979

Mauritius	3–2	Tanzania
Maurel L'Enflé Ramrekha

Stade George V, Curepipe

29 April 1979

Tanzania	4–0	Mauritius

National Stadium, Dar es Salaam

Tanzania won 6–3 on aggregate.

Algeria	Cancelled	Burundi
		Withdrew

Algeria advanced after Burundi withdrew.

Egypt	Cancelled	Somalia
		Withdrew

Egypt advanced after Somalia withdrew.

Kenya	Cancelled	Tunisia
		Disqualified

Kenya advanced: Tunisia were disqualified after they were banned from CAF competitions for two years for walking off the pitch to protest the officating during the third-place match of the 1978 African Cup of Nations.

Sudan	Cancelled	Uganda
		Withdrew

Sudan advanced after Uganda withdrew.

Second round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Algeria	3–2	Libya	3–1	0–1
Morocco	8–2	Togo	7–0	1–2
Sudan	2–4	Ivory Coast	2–0	0–4
Kenya	3–4	Egypt	3–1	0–3
Zaire	4–5	Guinea	3–2	1–3
Tanzania	2–1	Zambia	1–0	1–1

24 June 1979

Algeria	3–1	Libya
Belloumi 20' Douadi 33', 50'		Al-Issawi

Stade 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers^[1]

8 July 1979

Libya	1–0	Algeria
Lagha 85' (pen.)

11 June Stadium, Tripoli

Algeria won 3–2 on aggregate.

24 June 1979

Morocco	7–0	Togo
Faras 9' Acila 16' Dolmy 44' Jebrane 54', 70', 86' Labied 80'

Stade El Bachir, Mohammedia

6 July 1979

Togo	2–1	Morocco
		Beggar

Lomé

Morocco won 8–2 on aggregate.

29 June 1979

Sudan	2–0	Ivory Coast

Khartoum Stadium, Khartoum

6 July 1979

Ivory Coast	4–0	Sudan

Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan

Ivory Coast won 4–2 on aggregate.

30 June 1979

Kenya	3–1	Egypt
Lukoye		Khalil 60'

Nairobi City Stadium, Nairobi

13 July 1979

Egypt	3–0	Kenya
Khalil 27' Mokhtar 45' Kamel 47'

Cairo

Egypt won 4–3 on aggregate.

5 August 1979

Zaire	3–2	Guinea
Ayel 18', 81' Kiyika 88'		Bangoura 42', 64'

Stade du 20-Mai, Kinshasa

19 August 1979

Guinea	3–1	Zaire

Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry

Guinea won 5–4 on aggregate.

11 August 1979

Tanzania	1–0	Zambia

National Stadium, Dar es Salaam

26 August 1979

Zambia	1–1	Tanzania
Chola 43'		Tino 84'

Ndola

Tanzania won 2–1 on aggregate.

Qualified teams