2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations

2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations

كأس الأمم الأفريقية تحت 17 سنة 2026 Coupe d'Afrique des nations de football des moins de 17 ans 2026
Tournament details
Host country	Morocco
Teams	16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	4 (in 4 host cities)
← 2025 2027 →

The 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations , known as the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes or 2026 U17 AFCON for short, is the 16th edition (21st 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.

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] . The top 10 teams qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar as the CAF representatives.

Morocco are the defending champions.

Qualification

Main article: 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Player eligibility

Players born on 1 January 2009 or later were eligible to participate in this tournament edition.

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament.

All appearance statistics count only those since the introduction of the group stages in 1995.

Team	Zone	Date of qualification	Appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
Morocco (hosts)	North Zone	16 December 2024	5th	2025	Champions (2025)
	West A Zone
	West B Zone	30 September 2025
		30 September 2025
	Central Zone
	Central-East Zone
South Africa	South Zone	18 September 2025	6th	2025	Runners-up (2015)
Angola		18 September 2025	6th	2025	Third place (2019)
Mozambique		20 September 2025	3rd	2001	Group stage (1995, 2001)

Group stage

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

Tiebreakers

Teams were 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 were 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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Morocco (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage and 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2	A2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	A3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	FIFA U-17 World Cup play-off
4	A4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: Summer 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage and 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2	B2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	B3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	FIFA U-17 World Cup play-off
4	B4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: Summer 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	C1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage and 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2	C2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	C3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	FIFA U-17 World Cup play-off
4	C4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: Summer 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage and 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2	D2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	FIFA U-17 World Cup play-off
4	D4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: Summer 2026. Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

See also

• 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations

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.