Zambia's national football team has been welcomed home by throngs of jubilant fans after winning the country's first African Cup of Nations

The team arrived at the airport in Lusaka on Monday, where they showed off the prized trophy to thousands of cheering Zambians.

Zambia's team beat Ivory Coast Sunday with a dramatic 8-7 penalty shootout in Gabon's capital, Libreville.

The game was scoreless after regulation and extra time. The two teams needed 18 kicks in the shootout to decide the match, with Zambia's Stophira Sunzu scoring the decisive goal.

Ivory Coast had a chance to take a lead in the 70th minute when star Didier Drogba lined up to take a penalty kick. Zambia's goalkeeper dove to the opposite side of Drogba's shot, leaving an open net, but the ball sailed over the crossbar.

Zambia's victory took place close to the site of a 1993 plane crash that killed 25 members of its national team.

This year's squad visited a beach near the crash site after arriving for the finals last week.