2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations

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2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations
  • كأس الأمم الأفريقية تحت 17 سنة 2025
  • Coupe d'Afrique des nations de football des moins de 17 ans 2025
Tournament details
Host countryMorocco
Dates30 March – 19 April
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
2023
2026

The 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations known as the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes or 2025 U17 AFCON for short is the 15th edition (20th if editions without hosts are included) of the biennial African youth football tournament organized by Confederation of African Football (CAF) for players aged 17 and below.

Contents

Morocco was chosen as the host of this edition on 16 December 2024 at the annual CAF Executive Committee meeting along the 2024 CAF Awards ceremony in Marrakesh, Morocco where CAF appointed the country as host. [1] which it organised from 30 March to 19 April. The top 10 teams will qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar as the CAF representatives.

It is the first U-17 Africa Cup of Nations to feature 16 teams.

Senegal are the defending champions.

Qualification

Player eligibility

Players born on 1 January 2008 or later were eligible to participate in this tournament edition.

Qualified teams

The following teams have qualified for the group stage.

TeamZoneDate of qualificationAppearanceLast appearancePrevious best performance
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt North Zone 23 November 20244th 2011 Champions (1997)
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco (hosts)23 November 20244th 2023 Runners-up (2023)
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 5 February 20254th 2013 Third place (2013)
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali West A Zone 1 November 202410th 2023 Champions (2015, 2017)
Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 1 November 20244th 2023 Champions (2023)
Flag of The Gambia.svg  Gambia 5 February 20255th 2011 Champions (2005, 2009)
Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso West B Zone 25 May 20248th 2023 Champions (2011)
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast 25 May 20246th 2015 Champions (2013)
Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon Central Zone 22 February 20259th 2023 Champions (2003, 2019)
Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic 22 February 20251stNoneDebut
Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania Central-East Zone 24 December 20243rd 2019 Group stage (2017, 2019)
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 24 December 20242nd 2019 Group stage (2019)
Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia 5 February 20252nd 2023 Group stage (2023)
Flag of Angola.svg  Angola South Zone 11 December 20245th 2019 Third place (2019)
Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia 11 December 20243rd 2023 Group stage (2015, 2023)
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 5 February 20255th 2023 Runners-up (2015)

Venues

The host country for the final tournament is Morocco, appointed during the General Assembly held in Marrakech, Morocco on 16 December 2024. [2]

Draw

The draw procedure was announced on 10 February 2025, [3] with the draw to occur on 13 February 2025 in Cairo, Egypt. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams. [4] Teams are seeded according to their performance in the 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations. Hosts Morocco were automatically assigned to Position A1 in the draw. Previous edition winners Senegal were assigned to Position C1 with Burkina Faso and Mali assigned to positions B1 and D1 respectively. The rest of the field were placed in Pot 1 to be drawn into the remaining positions.

SeededPot 1

Group Stage

Tiebreakers

Teams will be ranked according to the three points for a win system (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

  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, if two teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are applied exclusively to these two teams;
  5. Goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Drawing of lots.

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco (H)00000000 Knockout stage and
2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 00000000
3Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 00000000 FIFA U-17 World Cup play-off
4Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia 00000000
First match(es) will be played: March 2025. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso 00000000 Knockout stage and
2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon 00000000
3Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 00000000 FIFA U-17 World Cup play-off
4Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 00000000
First match(es) will be played: March 2025. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group C

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 00000000 Knockout stage and
2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2Flag of The Gambia.svg  Gambia 00000000
3Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia 00000000 FIFA U-17 World Cup play-off
4Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 00000000
First match(es) will be played: March 2025. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group D

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Mali.svg  Mali 00000000 Knockout stage and
2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2Flag of Angola.svg  Angola 00000000
3Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast 00000000 FIFA U-17 World Cup play-off
4Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic 00000000
First match(es) will be played: March 2025. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

FIFA U-17 World Cup play-off

Winners qualify for 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

A3Play-off 1C3

B3Play-off 2D3

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, penalty shoot-outs are used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 75).

Bracket

 
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
 
          
 
April 2025
 
 
Winners Group A
 
April 2025
 
Runners-up Group B
 
QF1
 
April 2025
 
QF4
 
Winners Group D
 
19 April 2025
 
Runners-up Group C
 
SF1
 
April 2025
 
SF2
 
Winners Group C
 
April 2025
 
Runners-up Group D
 
QF3
 
April 2025
 
QF2 Third place match
 
Winners Group B
 
April 2025
 
Runners-up Group A
 
LSF1
 
 
LSF2
 

Quarter-finals

A1QF1B2

B1QF2A2

C1QF3D2

D1QF4C2

Semi-finals

QF1SF1QF4

QF3SF2QF2

Third place match

LSF13rd PlaceLSF2

Final

SF1FinalSF2

Tournament rankings

Pos.TeamPldWDLPtsGFGAGD
1
2
3
4
Eliminated in the quarter-finals
5
6
7
8
Eliminated in the group stage
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

See also

References

  1. "CAF Executive Committee approves 2025 Competition Calendar and TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Final Draw Date". 16 December 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  2. Times, iDiski (December 16, 2024). "CAF Announces Key Dates For 2025".
  3. "Final Draw for the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025 to take place on 13 February at CAF headquarters in Cairo". Final Draw for the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025 to take place on 13 February at CAF headquarters in Cairo. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
  4. "Uganda, Tanzania placed in Group A for U-17 AFCON - CECAFA FOOTBALL" (in Italian). 13 February 2025. Retrieved 13 February 2025.