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2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Tournament details
Host countries	Algeria (North Zone) Mauritania (West A Zone) Ghana (West B Zone) Cameroon (Central Zone) Ethiopia (Central-East Zone) Malawi (South Zone)
Dates	11 June 2022 – 18 January 2023
Tournament statistics
Matches played	52
Goals scored	185 (3.56 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Siyabonga Mabena (9 goals)
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The 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-17 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.

Players born 1 January 2006 or later were eligible to participate in the competition. A total of twelve teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Algeria who qualified automatically as hosts.

Teams

Since the 2021 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations was cancelled, this will be the first edition in Africa U-17 Cup of Nations to have expanded to 12 teams instead of eight. Each of the six zones received two spots in the final tournament.

Notes

• Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
• (H): Qualifying tournament hosts
• (Q): Automatically qualified for final tournament regardless of qualification results
• (W): Withdrew
• (D): Disqualified

Schedule

The qualifying competition was split into regional competitions, with the teams entering the qualifying tournament of their zone. The schedule of each qualifying zone was as follows.

North Zone

The 2022 UNAF U-17 Tournament, which also served as the qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, took place between 8 and 14 November 2022 in Algiers, Algeria. The four teams were placed in one group, with the winners qualifying for the final tournament. Algeria didn't participate in the tournament, as were automatically qualified for the final tournament as hosts.

All times are local, DPRA (UTC+1).

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Morocco	3	3	0	0	5	1	+4	9	2023 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations
2	Egypt	3	1	0	2	5	5	0	3
3	Libya	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
4	Tunisia	3	1	0	2	4	7	−3	3

Tunisia	0–2	Morocco
	Report	Maali 56' (pen.) Bakhti 86'

Libya	2–1	Egypt
Al Mesmari 37' Al Zakouzi 58'	Report	Mohamed 45+1' (pen.)

Egypt	3–1	Tunisia
Abdel-Aziz 15' Moawad 54' Abdelkarim 90+1'	Report	Al Gharbi 81'

Morocco	1–0	Libya
Ashtar 24'	Report

Tunisia	3–2	Libya
Dendani 54' (pen.), 80' Amdouni 87'	Report	Al Mabrouk 4' (pen.) Kerwash 84'

Egypt	1–2	Morocco
Abdel-Aziz 58'	Report	Maali 7' Nair 45'

West A Zone

The WAFU-UFOA Zone A qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations were hosted by Mauritania with the matches played between 1 and 9 October 2022. The draw was announced on 21 July 2022.

All times are local, GMT (UTC±0).

Group stage

The six teams were drawn into two groups of three teams. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sierra Leone	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	3	Semi-finals
2	Mauritania (H)	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	0
3	Liberia (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Disqualified

1. On 3 October, Liberia were disqualified from the qualifiers after two of their players failed to pass the MRI test. After this, both of their matches were cancelled and the group standings was decided only by the first match played on 1 October between Mauritania and Sierra Leone.

Mauritania	0–3	Sierra Leone
	Report	Sesay 11', 32' A. Bangura 48'

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mali	2	2	0	0	9	2	+7	6	Semi-finals
2	Senegal	2	1	0	1	7	2	+5	3
3	Cape Verde	2	0	0	2	1	13	−12	0

Cape Verde	0–6	Senegal
	Report	I. Touré 11' Sylla 35', 89' Sadio 39' A. Diouf 72', 82'

Mali	7–1	Cape Verde
I. Diarra 8', 10', 44' Tia 14' Kanaté 66' Barry 71' Sissoko 89'	Report	B. Coulibaly 78' (o.g.)

Senegal	1–2	Mali
Sall 64'	Report	A. Diarra 20' Tia 68'

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	7 October – Cheikha Boïdiya
	Sierra Leone	0 (5)
					9 October – Cheikha Boïdiya
	Senegal (p)	0 (6)
					Senegal	1 (2)
	7 October – Cheikha Boïdiya
					Mali (p)	1 (4)
	Mali	2
	Mauritania	0

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2023 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.

Sierra Leone	0–0	Senegal
	Report
Penalties
S. Bangura Bah Al. Koroma Ab. Koroma Fornah Al. Kamara K. Conteh	5–6	F. Diouf A. Touré Diao A. Diouf I. Touré Dorival Sadio

Mali	2–0	Mauritania
I. Diarra 10' A. Diarra 85'	Report

Final

Senegal	1–1	Mali
A. Diouf 45'	Report	I. Diarra 53'
Penalties
F. Diouf A. Touré Diao Diallo	2–4	Barry M. Traoré B. Coulibaly Kanaté

West B Zone

The WAFU-UFOA Zone B qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations were hosted by Ghana with the matches played between 11 and 24 June 2022. The draw was announced on 15 April 2022.

All times are local, GMT (UTC±0).

Group stage

The seven teams were drawn into two groups of three and four teams. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nigeria	2	2	0	0	7	3	+4	6	Semi-finals
2	Ghana (H)	2	1	0	1	5	4	+1	3
3	Togo	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5	0

Ghana	2–4	Nigeria
Salifu 60' Agyemang 89' (pen.)	Report	Michael 12' Williams 42' Azeez 52' Eke 79'

Nigeria	3–1	Togo
Iyede 11' Williams 24' Eke 82'	Report	Ahouankpo 75'

Togo	0–3	Ghana
	Report	Adua 54' Salifu 77' Agyemang 80' (pen.)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Burkina Faso	3	3	0	0	8	4	+4	9	Semi-finals
2	Ivory Coast	3	1	0	2	10	8	+2	3
3	Benin	3	1	0	2	5	7	−2	3
4	Niger	3	1	0	2	5	9	−4	3

Ivory Coast	2–3	Benin
Diomandé 12' Baboni 80' (o.g.)	Report	Ouorou 45+2', 49' Arouna 87'

Burkina Faso	2–1	Niger
Camara 5' Bougma 53'	Report	Djingarey 16'

Niger	1–6	Ivory Coast
Issoufou 12'	Report	N'Goran 14' Soro 17' Gballou 26' Diomandé 38', 45+1' Doumbia 87'

Benin	1–2	Burkina Faso
Seidou 15'	Report	Bougma 12' Camara 51' (pen.)

Niger	3–1	Benin
Issoufou 20' Yacouba ?' ? ?'	Report	Arouna 34'

Ivory Coast	2–4	Burkina Faso
Soro 6' (pen.) Doumbia 60'	Report	Ouattara 67' Camara 78', 82' Ouédraogo 90+3'

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	21 June – Cape Coast Stadium
	Nigeria	3
					24 June – Cape Coast Stadium
	Ivory Coast	1
					Nigeria	2
	21 June – Cape Coast Stadium
					Burkina Faso	1
	Burkina Faso	1
	Ghana	0
					Third place
					24 June – Cape Coast Stadium
					Ivory Coast	2
					Ghana	3

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2023 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.

Nigeria	3–1	Ivory Coast
Michael 31', 43' Abdullahi 61'	Report	Diomandé 2' (pen.)

Burkina Faso	1–0	Ghana
Camara 65' (pen.)	Report

Third place

Ivory Coast	2–3	Ghana
Diomandé 6' (pen.) Méïté 72'	Report	Adam 9' (pen.) Apokum 58' Salifu 90+2'

Final

Nigeria	2–1	Burkina Faso
Abdullahi 22', 48'	Report	Ouédraogo 42'

Central Zone

The UNIFFAC qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations were planned to be held in Cameroon between 7–12 January 2023 but was postponed and eventually played between 12 and 18 January 2023 due to a number of players being deemed overage by the MRI tests for Chad, DR Congo and Cameroon.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cameroon (H)	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	6	2023 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations
2	Congo	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	3
3	Central African Republic	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7	0

Central African Republic	0–4	Cameroon
	Report	Akamba 35' Abib 56' Yondjo 70', 73'

Cameroon	2–0	Congo
Yondjo 79' Djibrin 90+5'	Report

Congo	3–0	Central African Republic
Bizenga 36', 77' Nzouzi 53'	Report

Central-East Zone

The CECAFA qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations were hosted by Ethiopia, with the matches played between 2 and 19 October 2022. The draw was announced on 15 September 2022.

All times are local, EAT (UTC+3).

Group stage

The ten teams were initially drawn into two groups of five teams. Ethiopia, Tanzania, Somalia, South Sudan and Eritrea were drawn into Group A and Uganda, Djibouti, Sudan, Burundi and Rwanda were drawn into Group B. However, on 26 September, Eritrea and Rwanda withdrew from the competition, leaving both the groups with four teams. On 1 October, Djibouti and Sudan were disqualified from the tournament after some of their players failed the MRI test, leaving Group B with only two teams.

A redraw was then conducted on 2 October, with three teams drawn in two groups. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Tanzania	2	2	0	0	5	3	+2	6	Semi-finals
2	Somalia	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
3	Ethiopia (H)	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2	0

Ethiopia	0–1	Somalia
	Report	A. Abdi 12'

Tanzania	3–2	Ethiopia
Otto 3', 15' Iddi 87'	Report	Seyoum 9', 20'

Somalia	1–2	Tanzania
Bilal 38'	Report	Otto 75', 79'

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Uganda	2	2	0	0	8	1	+7	6	Semi-finals
2	South Sudan	2	0	1	1	2	5	−3	1
3	Burundi	2	0	1	1	1	5	−4	1

Uganda	4–0	Burundi
Yiga 17', 45' Nkoola 35' Okello 55'	Report

South Sudan	1–4	Uganda
Okenny 67'	Report	Nkoola 25', 51' Sembuusi 37' Walusimbi 45+1'

Burundi	1–1	South Sudan
Harimbabazi 65'	Report	Mabil 83'

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	12 October – Abebe Bikila Stadium
	Uganda	1 (7)
					15 October – Abebe Bikila Stadium
	Somalia (p)	1 (8)
					Somalia	3
	12 October – Abebe Bikila Stadium
					South Sudan	1
	Tanzania	1 (3)
	South Sudan (p)	1 (4)
					Third place
					15 October – Abebe Bikila Stadium
					Uganda	1 (1)
					Tanzania (p)	1 (4)

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2023 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.

Uganda	1–1	Somalia
Ssemwogerere 42'	Report	A. Abdi 44'
Penalties
Yiga Ssonko Wandera Walusimbi Ssekajugo Okello Tumwesigye Nkoola	7–8	Abdullahi Abdukadir Abdalla Bilal M. Abdi A. Abdi Nor Ali

Tanzania	1–1	South Sudan
Charles 71'	Report	Gem 37'
Penalties
Omar Farid M. Salum Hamisi Charles	3–4	Obama Mabil Moses Taban Gem

Third place

Uganda	1–1	Tanzania
Lubega 45+2'	Report	Omar 52'
Penalties
Yiga Ssonko Ouke	1–4	Omar M. Salum Kapil Farid

Final

Somalia	3–1	South Sudan
A. Abdi 6' Dahir 59', 71'	Report	Minari 48'

South Zone

The COSAFA qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations were played between 2 and 11 December 2022 in Malawi. The draw was announced on 4 November 2022.

All times are local, CAT (UTC+2).

Group stage

The nine teams were initially drawn into three groups of three teams. Malawi, Botswana and Namibia were drawn into Group A; Angola, South Africa and Mauritius were drawn into Group B; and Zambia, Mozambique and Seychelles were drawn into Group C.

However, a few days later, Mauritius withdrew from the competition, leaving Group B with only two teams. A redraw was then conducted on 29 November, with eight teams drawn into two groups of four teams. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Malawi (H)	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1	4	Semi-finals
2	Botswana	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	4
3	Namibia	2	0	0	2	1	3	−2	0
4	Angola (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Disqualified

1. On 1 December, Angola were disqualified from the qualifiers after a few of their players failed to pass the MRI test.

Malawi	2–2	Botswana
Harrison 32' Mhango 64'	Report	Ratshukudu 11' Banda 47' (o.g.)

Malawi	2–1	Namibia
Kanowa 37' (pen.) Mzunda 83'	Report	Nanuseb 27'

Namibia	0–1	Botswana
	Report	Ratshukudu 72'

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Zambia	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8	9	Semi-finals
2	South Africa	3	2	0	1	12	1	+11	6
3	Mozambique	3	0	1	2	0	2	−2	1
4	Seychelles	3	0	1	2	1	18	−17	1

Seychelles	0–11	South Africa
	Report	Mabena 4', 9', 26', 45+2', 74' Lee 10' Mokoena 25' Wallis 48', 52', 90+2' (pen.) Manyana 57'

Zambia	1–0	Mozambique
Zimba 55'	Report

Mozambique	0–1	South Africa
	Report	Mabena 62'

Zambia	7–1	Seychelles
Mwanza 33', 42', 74', 86', 90' Kapowa 37' Phiri 64'	Report	Hoareau 77'

Seychelles	0–0	Mozambique
	Report

South Africa	0–1	Zambia
	Report	Zimba 49'

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	9 December – Bingu National
	Zambia	4
					11 December – Bingu National
	Botswana	2
					Zambia	1
	9 December – Bingu National
					South Africa	0
	Malawi	1
	South Africa	5
					Third place
					11 December – Bingu National
					Botswana	2
					Malawi	5

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2023 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.

Zambia	4–2	Botswana
Malaya 31' Kapowa 45', 86' Zimba 70'	Report	Manapolo 51' (pen.) Ratshukudu 58'

Malawi	1–5	South Africa
Mkandawire 52'	Report	Sibiya 31' Mabena 46', 86' (pen.), 90' Lee 74'

Third place

Botswana	2–5	Malawi
Ratshukudu 58' Matakula 79'	Report	Mkandawire 4' Mzunda 20', 66', 90' Harrison 42'

Final

Zambia	1–0	South Africa
Phiri 60'	Report

Qualified teams

The following 12 teams qualified for the final tournament. However, South Sudan was disqualified from the tournament after 5 players failed the MRI test.

Team	Zone	Qualified on	Previous appearances in Africa U-17 Cup of Nations only final tournament era (since 1995)
Algeria (hosts)	North Zone	17 May 2021	1 (2009)
Nigeria	West B Zone	21 June 2022	9 (1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2019)
Burkina Faso	West B Zone	21 June 2022	6 (1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011)
Senegal	West A Zone	7 October 2022	2 (2011, 2019)
Mali	West A Zone	7 October 2022	8 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2011, 2015, 2017)
Somalia	Central-East Zone	12 October 2022	0 (debut)
South Sudan	Central-East Zone	12 October 2022	0 (debut)
Morocco	North Zone	14 November 2022	2 (2013, 2019)
Zambia	South Zone	9 December 2022	1 (2015)
South Africa	South Zone	9 December 2022	3 (2005, 2007, 2015)
Cameroon	Central Zone	15 January 2023	7 (1999, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2015, 2017, 2019)
Congo	Central Zone	18 January 2023	2 (2011, 2013)

Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Goalscorers

There were 185 goals scored in 52 matches, for an average of 3.56 goals per match.

9 goals

• Siyabonga Mabena

5 goals

• Ousmane Camara
• Yan Diomandé
• Ibrahim Diarra
• Emmanuel Mwanza

4 goals

• Losika Ratshukudu
• Webster Mzunda
• Sylvester Otto

3 goals

• Dorinel Yondjo
• Abdul-Razak Salifu
• Abubakar Abdullahi
• Emmanuel Michael
• Amara Diouf
• Abdihafid Abdi
• Benjamin Wallis
• Arafat Nkoola
• Lutetekelo Kapowa
• Marcel Zimba

2 goals

• Abdou-Faridou Arouna
• Yamirou Ouorou
• Apollinaire Bougma
• Abdramane Ouédraogo
• Bienvenu Bizenga
• Ayman Abdel-Aziz
• Biruk Seyoum
• Collins Agyemang
• Abdoulaye Doumbia
• Nambagui Soro
• Vincent Harrison
• Lucky Mkandawire
• Aboubacar Diarra
• Ange Tia
• Abdelhamid Maali
• Yanis Issoufou
• Light Eke
• Daniel Sesay
• Mactar Sylla
• Wissam Chaouali
• Abdirahin Dahir
• Dhakier Lee
• Nacim Dendani
• Alex Yiga
• Kelvin Phiri

1 goal

• Taofik Seidou
• Boniface Manapolo
• Boikobo Matakula
• Sie Ouattara
• Ramadhan Harimbabazi
• Tizé Abib
• Collins Akamba
• Harouna Djibrin
• Ayel Nzouzi
• Hossam Abdelkarim
• Omar Moawad
• Omar Mohamed
• Abdul Rashid Adam
• Pius Adua
• Richard Apokum
• Aboubacar Méïté
• Inza Gballou
• Emmanuel N'Goran
• Sanad Kerwash
• Abdel Moamen Al Mabrouk
• Ahmed Al Mesmari
• Marwan Al Zakouzi
• Blessings Kanowa
• Mwisho Mhango
• Mahamoud Barry
• Ibrahim Kanaté
• Modibo Sissoko
• Adam Ashtar
• Ismail Bakhti
• Aiman Nair
• Dorian Nanuseb
•  ?
• Mohamed Yacouba
• Ibrahim Djingarey
• Jubril Azeez
• Kevwe Iyede
• Lamine Sadio
• Omar Sall
• Issa Touré
• Lorenzo Hoareau
• Abu Bakarr Bangura
• Idris Bilal
• Xhosa Manyana
• Bennet Mokoena
• Thato Sibiya
• Jonathan Gem
• David Mabil
• Ajo Minari
• Abraham Okenny
• Yasin Charles
• Idrisa Iddi
• Ally Omar
• Komi Ahouankpo
• Anas Amdouni
• Moncef Al Gharbi
• Farouk Lubega
• Richard Okello
• Patrick Sembuusi
• Jamal Ssemwogerere
• Abubakali Walusimbi
• Samson Malaya

1 own goal

• Abdalath Baboni (against Ivory Coast)
• Julius Banda (against Botswana)
• Baye Coulibaly (against Cape Verde)

See also

• 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualification

Notes

1. Liberia were disqualified from the qualifiers after two of their players failed to pass the MRI test.
2. ^ Chad and DR Congo were disqualified from the qualifiers after one of their players failed to pass the MRI test.
3. ^ Djibouti & Sudan were disqualified from the qualifiers after some of their players failed to pass the MRI test.
4. ^ Eritrea & Rwanda withdrew from the qualifiers after the group stage draw was conducted.
5. Angola were disqualified from the qualifiers after a few of their players failed to pass the MRI test.
6. Mauritius withdrew from the qualifiers after the group stage draw was conducted.

References

1. ^ "Decisions of CAF Executive". sportnewsafrica. 29 September 2021. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
2. ^ Bonaventure, Kolog (3 October 2022). "Liberia disqualified from U17 tournament in Mauritania for age-cheating". ghanasportscenter.com. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
3. ^ Bonaventure, Kolog (12 January 2023). "Le Tchad disqualifié, le tournoi UNIFFAC vire au fiasco". sportnewsafrica.com.
4. ^ "Djibouti, Sudan disqualified from U-17 AFCON qualifiers". CECAFA. 1 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
5. ^ "Eritrea, Rwanda withdraw from U-17 AFCON qualifiers". cecafaonline.com. 26 September 2022.
6. ^ Gyimah, Edmund Okai (28 September 2022). "Rwanda withdraws from Cecafa U-17 tourney". New Times. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
7. ^ Ndlovu, Maqonda (1 December 2022). "Change of fixture for U-17 football team". nampa.org. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
8. ^ "New format for TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations". cosafa.com. 29 November 2022.
9. ^ "Ghana to face arch-rivals Nigeria in WAFU B U20 & U17 Championship". CAF. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
10. ^ "Zonal Qualifiers for U-17, U-23 WAFCON draw unveiled". 21 July 2022. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
11. ^ "Uganda Cubs to open against Burundi". CECAFA. 2 October 2022.
12. ^ "33 joueurs en regroupement à Alger". DZFoot. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
13. ^ "Draw completed for TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup Of Nations". COSAFA. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
14. "Sierra Leone to open Wafu U17 against host Mauritania". 30 September 2022.
15. "Ghana set to stage WAFU-B U17 Championship, tourney set for Saturday kick off". 10 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
16. "les u20 et u17 fixes sur leurs adversaires a luniffac". www.leopardsfoot.com. 30 October 2022.
17. "uniffac-u-17-20-pairings-made". www.cafonline.com. 20 November 2022.
18. "Uganda to face Rwanda in TotalEnergies U-17 AFCON qualifiers for CECAFA Zone". CAF. 15 September 2022.
19. "South Africa's Chavani to officiate U-17 AFCON qualifiers for CECAFA". cecafaonline.com. 30 September 2022.
20. "TotalEnergies U-17 AFCON draw to be conducted on Wednesday 01 February". CAF. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
21. Ninrew, Chany (2023-04-30). "South Sudan U17 disqualified in AFCON over age test". Eye Radio. Retrieved 2023-06-03.

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