2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Tournament details
Host countries	TBD (North Zone) Mali (West A Zone) Ivory Coast (West B Zone) TBD (Central Zone) Ethiopia (Central-East Zone) Zimbabwe (South Zone)
Dates	11 September 2025 –
Teams	51
Tournament statistics
Matches played	35
Goals scored	109 (3.11 per match)
← 2025 2027 →

The 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualification is a men's under-17 football competition that decided the participating teams of the 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.

Players born on 1 January 2009 or later were eligible to participate in the competition. The host country for the final stage of the edition is Morocco, appointed during the annual CAF Executive Committee meeting along the 2024 CAF Awards ceremony in Marrakesh, Morocco where CAF appointed the country as host. ^[1]

Teams

Zone	Spots	Teams entering qualification	Did not enter
North Zone (UNAF)	3 spots	Algeria   Egypt   Libya   Morocco   Tunisia
West A Zone (WAFU-UFOA A)	3 spots	Gambia   Guinea   Guinea-Bissau   Liberia   Mali   Mauritania   Senegal   Sierra Leone	Cape Verde
West B Zone (WAFU-UFOA B)	2 spots	Benin   Burkina Faso   Ghana   Ivory Coast   Niger   Nigeria   Togo
Central Zone (UNIFFAC)	2 spots	Cameroon   Central African Republic   Congo   DR Congo   Gabon   Chad   Equatorial Guinea   São Tomé and Príncipe
Central-East Zone (CECAFA)	3 spots	Burundi   Ethiopia   Kenya   Somalia   South Sudan   Sudan   Tanzania   Uganda   Djibouti   Rwanda	Eritrea
South Zone (COSAFA)	3 spots	Angola   Botswana   Comoros   Eswatini   Lesotho   Madagascar   Malawi   Mauritius   Mozambique   South Africa   Zambia   Zimbabwe	Namibia   Seychelles

Notes

• Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
• (W): Withdrew after draw

North Zone

Main article: 2026 UNAF U-17 Tournament

West A Zone

The WAFU-UFOA Zone A qualifiers for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations will be hosted by Mali with the matches played starting 5 October 2025. The matches will be played at Bamako, Mali.

All times are local, GMT (UTC+0).

Group stage

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

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 two teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 13): ^[2]

1. Points in head-to-head matches match between the two tied teams;
2. Goal difference in all group matches;
3. Goals scored in all group matches;
4. Drawing of lots.

If more than two teams were tied, the following criteria were applied instead:

1. Points in matches between the tied teams;
2. Goal difference in matches between the tied teams;
3. Goals scored in matches between the tied teams;
4. If after applying all criteria above, two teams were still tied, the above criteria were again applied to matches played between the two teams in question. If this did not resolve the tie, the next three criteria were applied;
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	Guinea-Bissau	3	2	1	0	7	2	+5	7	Semi-finals
2	Mali (H)	3	1	2	0	9	3	+6	5
3	Gambia	3	1	1	1	6	4	+2	4
4	Liberia	3	0	0	3	1	14	−13	0

Source: WAFU A
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

5 October 2025 (2025-10-05)

16:00

Mali	6–0	Liberia
Touré 11' (pen.), 24' Kamissoko 20' F. Sidibé 87' Keïta 90+2', 90+4'

Stade Mamadou Konaté, Bamako

5 October 2025 (2025-10-05)

19:00

Gambia	0–2	Guinea-Bissau
		J. Balde 30', 78'

Stade Mamadou Konaté, Bamako

---

8 October 2025 (2025-10-08)

16:00

Liberia	0–4	Gambia
		Kanyi 1' Leigh 38' Drammeh 61' (pen.) Loum 90+2'

Koulikoro Stadium, Koulikoro

8 October 2025 (2025-10-08)

19:00

Guinea-Bissau	1–1	Mali
J. Balde 60'		S. Diarra 90+2'

Koulikoro Stadium, Koulikoro

---

11 October 2025 (2025-10-11)

16:00

Mali	2–2	Gambia
Touré 72' (pen.) Maïga 81'		L. Bojang 50' Leigh 85'

Stade Mamadou Konaté, Bamako

11 October 2025 (2025-10-11)

16:00

Guinea-Bissau	4–1	Liberia
Biai 57' (pen.) Bassague 69', 78' Dabo 90+2'		Hyne 6'

Ouezzin-Coulibaly Stadium, Bamako

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Guinea	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7	Semi-finals
2	Senegal	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1	5
3	Mauritania	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1	3
4	Sierra Leone	3	0	1	2	3	6	−3	1

Source: WAFU A
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

6 October 2025 (2025-10-06)

16:00

Senegal	1–1	Sierra Leone
Faye 53'		Samura 11'

Ouezzin-Coulibaly Stadium, Bamako

6 October 2025 (2025-10-06)

19:00

Mauritania	0–1	Guinea
		M. Sylla 52'

Ouezzin-Coulibaly Stadium, Bamako

---

9 October 2025 (2025-10-09)

16:00

Sierra Leone	1–2	Mauritania
Kanja 74' (pen.)		Mhaimid 70' El Ide 82'

Ouezzin-Coulibaly Stadium, Bamako

9 October 2025 (2025-10-09)

19:00

Guinea	1–1	Senegal
S. Sylla 88'		Dione 7'

Ouezzin-Coulibaly Stadium, Bamako

---

12 October 2025 (2025-10-12)

15:00

Senegal	1–0	Mauritania
Diallo 47'

Stade Mamadou Konaté, Bamako

12 October 2025 (2025-10-12)

15:00

Guinea	3–1	Sierra Leone
Cissé 19' Sano 34', 70'		Sidibay 10'

Ouezzin-Coulibaly Stadium, Bamako

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	15 October – Bamako
	Guinea-Bissau	0
					18 October – Bamako
	Senegal	4
					Senegal	2
	15 October – Bamako
					Mali	0
	Guinea	1
	Mali	2
					Third place
					18 October – Bamako
					Guinea-Bissau (p)	1 (4)
					Guinea	1 (2)

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.

15 October 2025 (2025-10-15)

16:00

Guinea-Bissau	0–4	Senegal
		Ndiaye 34' Faye 43' Niang 50' Ba 90+5'

Stade Mamadou Konaté, Bamako

Referee: Baboucarr Bass (Gambia)

---

15 October 2025 (2025-10-15)

19:00

Guinea	1–2	Mali
S. Sylla 4'		Sogodogo 45+2' Kamissoko 85'

Stade Mamadou Konaté, Bamako

Referee: Abdelkader M'Bareck (Mauritania)

Third place play-off

18 October 2025 (2025-10-18)

16:00

Guinea-Bissau	1–1	Guinea
Ravi Ca 57'		Sano 63' (pen.)
Penalties
Bassague Ravi Ca Danfa Biai	4–2	S. Sylla Sano Chérif Bayo

Stade Mamadou Konaté, Bamako

Referee: Aida Sy (Senegal)

Final

18 October 2025 (2025-10-18)

19:00

Senegal	2–0	Mali
Faye 40', 50'

Stade Mamadou Konaté, Bamako

Referee: Sulaiman Kamara (Sierra Leone)

West B Zone

The WAFU-UFOA Zone B qualifiers for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations will be hosted by Ivory Coast with the matches played between 20 September and 3 October 2025, the draw was announced on 4 September 2025. ^[3]

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.

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 two teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 13): ^[2]

1. Points in head-to-head matches match between the two tied teams;
2. Goal difference in all group matches;
3. Goals scored in all group matches;
4. Drawing of lots.

If more than two teams were tied, the following criteria were applied instead:

1. Points in matches between the tied teams;
2. Goal difference in matches between the tied teams;
3. Goals scored in matches between the tied teams;
4. If after applying all criteria above, two teams were still tied, the above criteria were again applied to matches played between the two teams in question. If this did not resolve the tie, the next three criteria were applied;
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	Ivory Coast (H)	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7	Semi-finals
2	Ghana	3	1	1	1	4	5	−1	4
3	Niger	3	1	0	2	4	6	−2	3
4	Togo	3	0	2	1	3	5	−2	2

Source: WAFU
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

20 September 2025 (2025-09-20)

15:00

Ivory Coast	2–0	Niger
Bamba 73' Doumbia 90+3'

Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamoussoukro

Referee: Hamidou Diero (Burkina Faso)

20 September 2025 (2025-09-20)

18:00

Togo	1–1	Ghana
Ganiou 63' (pen.)	Report (GFA)	Narbi 9'

Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamoussoukro

---

23 September 2025 (2025-09-23)

15:00

Niger	3–1	Togo
Touba 42' Moctar 44', 50'	Report (FTF)	Amega 3'

Stade Lycée Scientifique, Yamoussoukro

23 September 2025 (2025-09-23)

18:00

Ghana	0–3	Ivory Coast
	Report (GFA)	Doumbia 3' Hubert 48' Bamba 59'

Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamoussoukro

---

26 September 2025 (2025-09-26)

15:00

Ivory Coast	1–1	Togo
Ar. Diabaté 64'	Report (FTF)	Amega 90+3'

Stade Lycée Scientifique, Yamoussoukro

26 September 2025 (2025-09-26)

15:00

Ghana	3–1	Niger
Gavi 2', 90+1' Mensah 82'	Report (GFA)	Arbi 7'

Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamoussoukro

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nigeria	2	1	1	0	4	1	+3	4	Semi-finals
2	Burkina Faso	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	4
3	Benin	2	0	0	2	1	5	−4	0

Source: WAFU
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

21 September 2025 (2025-09-21)

15:00

Burkina Faso	1–0	Benin
Koné 49'

Stade Lycée Scientifique, Yamoussoukro

---

24 September 2025 (2025-09-24)

15:00

Benin	1–4	Nigeria
Zannou 45'		Agha 4' (pen.), 14', 31' Edeh 6'

Stade Lycée Scientifique, Yamoussoukro

---

27 September 2025 (2025-09-27)

15:00

Nigeria	0–0	Burkina Faso

Stade Lycée Scientifique, Yamoussoukro

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	30 September – Yamoussoukro
	Ivory Coast	2
					3 October – Yamoussoukro
	Burkina Faso	1
					Ivory Coast (p)	0 (4)
	30 September – Yamoussoukro
					Ghana	0 (3)
	Nigeria	0
	Ghana	2
					Third place
					3 October – Yamoussoukro
					Burkina Faso	0
					Nigeria	2

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.

30 September 2025 (2025-09-30)

15:00

Ivory Coast	2–1	Burkina Faso
Tuo 40' Doumbia 58'		Diakité 25'

Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamoussoukro

---

30 September 2025 (2025-09-30)

19:00

Nigeria	0–2	Ghana
	Report (GFA)	Awuli 21' Gavi 31'

Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamoussoukro

Third place play-off

3 October 2025 (2025-10-03)

15:00

Burkina Faso	0–2	Nigeria
		Yusuf 50' Umole 77'

Stade Lycée Scientifique, Yamoussoukro

Final

3 October 2025 (2025-10-03)

19:00

Ivory Coast	0–0	Ghana
Penalties
	4–3

Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamoussoukro

South Zone

Main article: 2025 COSAFA Under-17 Championship

The COSAFA qualifiers for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations were held in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 11 to 20 September 2024. The draw for the groups took place on 5 August 2025.

The qualification structure was as follows:

• Group stage: The 12 teams were divided into three groups, with the group winners and the best runner-up advancing to the knockout stage.
• Knockout stage: The four teams advancing from the second round competed in a three-match knockout round, with the winners of the semifinals qualifying for the final tournament.

Group stage

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mozambique	3	2	1	0	5	0	+5	7	Semi-finals
2	Comoros	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	7
3	Zimbabwe (H)	3	0	1	2	2	4	−2	1
4	Eswatini	3	0	1	2	0	7	−7	1

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Africa	3	3	0	0	13	2	+11	9	Semi-finals
2	Malawi	3	2	0	1	6	6	0	6
3	Zambia	3	1	0	2	6	7	−1	3
4	Madagascar	3	0	0	3	3	13	−10	0

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Angola	3	3	0	0	17	0	+17	9	Semi-finals
2	Lesotho	3	1	1	1	3	7	−4	4
3	Botswana	3	0	2	1	1	6	−5	2
4	Mauritius	3	0	1	2	3	11	−8	1

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	18 September – Harare
	South Africa	7
					20 September – Harare
	Comoros	0
					South Africa	2
	18 September – Harare
					Angola	1
	Mozambique	0
	Angola	1
					Third place
					20 September – Harare
					Comoros	0
					Mozambique	3

Goalscorers

There have been 156 goals scored in 51 matches, for an average of 3.06 goals per match (as of 18 October 2025).

8 goals

• Pedro Antonio

5 goals

• Thandanani Mhlongo

4 goals

• Marcos Lazaro
• Souleymane Faye
• Omphemetse Sekgoto

3 goals

• Paulo Luvumbo
• Robinho Gavi Yao
• Moussa Sano
• Joãozinho Balde
• Bema Doumbia
• James Lumbe
• Abdoulaye Touré
• George Agha
• Mpho Molepo
• Inganathi Simama

2 goals

• Costantino Chianica
• Eliseu Francisco
• Jairo Muanha
• Fasifdine Ahamada
• Mathis Ali
• Alagie Baba Leigh
• Seydouba Sylla
• Ivaldino Bassague
• Souhailio Bamba
• William Rambeloson
• Ismaël Kamissoko
• Sanaba Keïta
• Paw Kee
• Chauson Nhabanga
• Ibrahim Moctar
• Ntokozo Madondo
• Mpho Mbilini
• Bernabé Amega
• Kelvin Chipelu

1 goal

• Manuel Morais
• Aphelele Majola
• Jérémy Zannou
• Marcus Koketso
• Halidou Diakité
• Assifou Koné
• Kais Ali
• Fahad Mohamed
• Lamin Bojang
• Alieu Drammeh
• Ahmed Njundu Kanyi
• Modou Loum
• Michael Awuli
• Mark Mensah
• Joseph Narbi
• Kabir Cissé
• M. Zayatte Sylla
• Alexandre Biai
• Ravi Ca
• Aiuba Dabo
• Arafat Diabaté
• Yao Hubert
• Souleymane Tuo
• Fisane Leanya
• Lechesa Makhupane
• Morena Masithela
• Alloycious Hyne
• Tinai Razanadrakoto
• Joel Maziya
• Eli Rundles
• Salia Diarra
• Aboubacar Maïga
• Fousseyni Sidibé
• Mohamed Sogodogo
• Sidi El Ide
• Isselmou Mhaimid
• Nicholas Fani
• Kristff Machava
• Joaquim Mubai
• Ismaël Arbi
• Ibrahim Touba
• David Edeh
• Famous Umole
• Ahmed Yusuf
• Mahamet Ba
• Mamadou Diallo
• Ibrahima Dione
• El Hadji Ndiaye
• Magueye Niang
• James Kanja
• Musa Samura
• Abubakarr Sidibay
• Siyabonga Mbongo
• Sultan Ganiou
• Albert Kunda
• Steven Lungu
• Caleb Musonda
• Mapalo Simute
• Tadiwa Chakuchichi

1 own goal

• Rayad Aboudou (against Zimbabwe)
• Irintsoa Rakotoharimalala (against Malawi)
• Elvino Andre (against Angola)
• Emmanuel Mbuti (against South Africa)

See also

• 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

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. "U-17 AFCON Regulations" (PDF). Retrieved 21 February 2025.
3. "Nigeria face tough defence as Burkina Faso lie in wait at U17 WAFU B AFCON qualifiers". 23 April 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.