2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations

Last updated
2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations
كأس الأمم الأفريقية تحت 23 سنة 2023
2023 U-23 AFCON logo.svg
Tournament details
Host countryMorocco
Dates24 June – 8 July
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsFlag of Morocco.svg  Morocco (1st title)
Runners-upFlag of Egypt.svg  Egypt
Third placeFlag of Mali.svg  Mali
Fourth placeFlag of Guinea.svg  Guinea
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored39 (2.44 per match)
Top scorer(s)
(3 goals each) [1]
Best player(s) Flag of Egypt.svg Ibrahim Adel [1]
Best goalkeeper Flag of Egypt.svg Hamza Alaa [1]
Fair play awardFlag of Guinea.svg  Guinea [1]
← 2019
2027 →

The 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations , known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 4th edition of the quadrennial African football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for its male national teams consisting of players under 23 years of age. It was held in Morocco between 24 June and 8 July 2023. [2] [3] It was the second time that Morocco hosted the tournament, as they were the inaugural hosts back in 2011.

Contents

The finalists and third-place playoff winner of this edition of the tournament qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Paris while the 4th-placed team will play the AFC–CAF playoff to decide the final Olympic slot.

Egypt were the defending champions, but failed to defend their title after a 2–1 loss to hosts Morocco in the final, although both were guaranteed qualification to the Olympic football tournament alongside Mali who won their third-place match against Guinea, who would later also qualify for the Olympics after emerging victorious in the playoff against the 4th-placed team from Asia, Indonesia. With the win, Morocco repeated the feat achieved at the 2018 African Nations Championship by hosting and winning a tournament at the same time.

Qualification

Morocco qualified automatically as hosts, while the remaining 7 spots were determined by the qualifying rounds which took place on a home-and-away two-legged basis from 21 September 2022 to 28 March 2023.

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the group stage.

TeamDate of qualificationAppearanceLast appearancePrevious best performance
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco (hosts)7 July 20222nd 2011 Runners-up (2011)
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt　26 March 20234th 2019 Champions (2019)
Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg  Congo 27 March 20231stNoneDebut
Flag of Gabon.svg  Gabon　28 March 20232nd 2011 Champions (2011)
Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana 28 March 20232nd 2019 Fourth place (2019)
Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea　28 March 20231stNoneDebut
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali　28 March 20233rd 2019 Group stage (2015, 2019)
Flag of Niger.svg  Niger　28 March 20231stNoneDebut

Venues

The matches were contested at two venues; the Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier and the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.

Tangier Rabat
Ibn Batouta Stadium Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium
Capacity: 65,000Capacity: 53,000
Stade Ibn Batuta, Tanger.jpg Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah.jpg

Squads

Draw

The draw was held on 5 May 2023 at 17:00 CET (UTC+1) at the Mohammed VI Football Academy in Salé. [4] The 8 teams were drawn into two groups of four teams, with hosts Morocco seeded in Group A (position A1) and the defending champions Egypt seeded in Group B (position B1). The remaining 6 teams were allocated to two pots based on the results of the previous tournament edition and were drawn to the remaining positions.

SeededPot 1Pot 2

Match officials

Referees

Assistant Referees

Video Assistant Referees

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points; 3 for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a loss. If tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied in the order given to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 68): [5]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. If more than two teams were tied and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  5. Goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Drawing of lots.

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

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco (H)330082+69Advance to knockout stage
2Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea 311154+14
3Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana 311158−34
4Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg  Congo 300337−40
Source: Soccer24
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Morocco  Flag of Morocco.svg2–1Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea
Ezzalzouli Soccerball shade.svg68' (pen.), 90+8' (pen.) Report Bah Soccerball shade.svg45+2'
Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
Referee: Omar Abdulkadir Artan (Somalia)
Ghana  Flag of Ghana.svg3–2Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg  Congo
Report
  • R.T. Kokolo Soccerball shade.svg90+3'
  • Y. Ngatse Soccerball shade.svg90+4'
Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
Referee: Mahmoud Nagi (Egypt)
Congo  Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg1–3Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea
Y. Ngatse Soccerball shade.svg40' Report
Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
Referee: Clement Franklin Kpan (Ivory Coast)
Morocco  Flag of Morocco.svg5–1Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana
Report S. Adams Soccerball shade.svg43'
Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
Referee: Patrice Mebiame (Gabon)
Congo  Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg0–1Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco
Report
Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
Referee: Mahmoud Nagi (Egypt)
Guinea  Flag of Guinea.svg1–1Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana
Report
Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
Referee: Muhammad Elmabrouk (Libya)

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 321030+37Advance to knockout stage
2Flag of Mali.svg  Mali 320152+36
3Flag of Niger.svg  Niger 311112−14
4Flag of Gabon.svg  Gabon 300316−50
Source: Soccer24
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Egypt  Flag of Egypt.svg0–0Flag of Niger.svg  Niger
Report
Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
Referee: Adalbert Diouf (Senegal)
Mali  Flag of Mali.svg3–1Flag of Gabon.svg  Gabon
Report Ovono Soccerball shade.svg3' (pen.)
Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
Referee: Jalal Jayed (Morocco)
Egypt  Flag of Egypt.svg1–0Flag of Mali.svg  Mali
Adel Soccerball shade.svg10' Report
Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
Referee: Lamin Jammeh (Gambia)
Gabon  Flag of Gabon.svg0–1Flag of Niger.svg  Niger
Report Moumouni Soccerball shade.svg60' (pen.)
Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
Referee: Youcef Gamouh (Algeria)
Gabon  Flag of Gabon.svg0–2Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt
Report
Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
Referee: Omar Abdulkadir Artan (Somalia)
Niger  Flag of Niger.svg0–2Flag of Mali.svg  Mali
Report
Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
Referee: Abongile Tom (South Africa)

Knockout stage

Bracket

 
 Semi-finals Final
 
      
 
4 July – Rabat
 
 
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco (p)2 (4)
 
8 July – Rabat
 
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali 2 (3)
 
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco (a.e.t.)2
 
4 July – Tangier
 
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 1
 
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 1
 
 
Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea 0
 
 Third-place match
 
 
7 July – Tangier
 
 
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali (p)0 (4)
 
 
Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea 0 (3)

Semi-finals

The winners qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Morocco  Flag of Morocco.svg2–2 (a.e.t.)Flag of Mali.svg  Mali
Report
Penalties
4–3
Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
Referee: Pierre Ghislain Atcho (Gabon)
Egypt  Flag of Egypt.svg1–0Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea
Shehata Soccerball shade.svg8' Report
Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
Referee: Abongile Tom (South Africa)

Third-place match

The winner (Mali) joined the finalists in qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics and the loser (Guinea) will play in the AFC–CAF play-off.

Mali  Flag of Mali.svg0–0Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea
Report
Penalties
  • I. Maïga Soccerball shade cross.svg
  • Diambou Soccerball shad check.svg
  • Diallo Soccerball shad check.svg
  • Diomandé Soccerball shad check.svg
  • M.L. Bah Soccerball shad check.svg
4–3
Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier
Referee: Youcef Gamouh (Algeria)

Final

Morocco  Flag of Morocco.svg2–1 (a.e.t.)Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt
Report Saber Soccerball shade.svg10'
Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat
Referee: Peter Waweru (Kenya)

Winners

 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations champions 
Flag of Morocco.svg
Morocco
First title

Final ranking

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsFinal result
Gold medal icon.svgFlag of Morocco.svg  Morocco (H)5410125+713Champions
Silver medal icon.svgFlag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 531152+310Runners-up
Bronze medal icon.svgFlag of Mali.svg  Mali 522174+38Third place
4Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea 51225505Fourth place
5Flag of Niger.svg  Niger 311112−14Eliminated in
Group stage
6Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana 311158−34
7Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg  Congo 300337−40
8Flag of Gabon.svg  Gabon 300316−50
Source: CAF
(H) Hosts

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of this edition of the tournament:

Top ScorerBest PlayerBest GoalkeeperFair Play Award
Flag of Morocco.svg Abde Ezzalzouli
(3 goals, 3 assists) [1] 		Flag of Egypt.svg Ibrahim Adel [1] Flag of Egypt.svg Hamza Alaa [1] Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea [1]

Team of the tournament

The team of the tournament was announced by the CAF after the final. [6]

GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards
Flag of Egypt.svg Hamza Alaa Flag of Mali.svg Ibrahima Cisse
Flag of Mali.svg Fodé Doucouré
Flag of Egypt.svg Hossam Abdelmaguid
Flag of Morocco.svg Zakaria El Ouahdi 		Flag of Mali.svg Mamadou Sangare
Flag of Egypt.svg Amar Hamdy
Flag of Morocco.svg Ismael Saibari 		Flag of Egypt.svg Ibrahim Adel
Flag of Egypt.svg Osama Faisal
Flag of Morocco.svg Abde Ezzalzouli

Goalscorers

There were 39 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 2.44 goals per match.

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Qualified teams for the 2024 Summer Olympics

The following four teams from CAF qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympic men's football tournament in France.

TeamQualified onPrevious appearances at the Summer Olympics
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco　4 July 20237 (1964, 1972, 1984, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2012)
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 4 July 202312 (1920, 1924, 1928, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1960, 1964, 1984, 1992, 2012, 2020)
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali 7 July 20231 (2004)
Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea 9 May 20241 (1968)

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Egypt captain Ibrahim Adel named TotalEnergies U-23 AFCON Best Player". CAFOnline . 9 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  2. ↑ Latrech, Oumaima (7 July 2022). "Morocco to Host U23 AFCON Tournament in 2023". Morocco World News . Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "CAF unveils the host country of the AFCON U-23 2023". AfrikPage. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  4. ↑ "Hosts Morocco get Ghana, Congo and Guinea at TotalEnergies U23 AFCON draw". CAFOnline.com . 5 May 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  5. ↑ "Regulations of the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations" (PDF). CAFOnline.com . 23 September 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  6. ↑ Confederation of African Football (CAF) [@CAF_Online] (9 July 2023). "4️⃣✖️🇪🇬 3️⃣✖️🇲🇦 3️⃣✖️🇲🇱 1️⃣✖️🇬🇳 Your #TotalEnergiesAFCONU23 team of the tournament is here🙌" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 August 2023– via Twitter.

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