The 2023 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-17 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2023 Africa U-17 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.[1]
Teams
Since the 2021 Africa U-17 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.
(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.
Zone
Group stage
Knockout stage
West B Zone[9]
11–18 June 2022
21–24 June 2022
West A Zone[10]
1–5 October 2022
7–9 October 2022
Central-East Zone[11]
3–9 October 2022
12–15 October 2022
North Zone[12]
8–14 November 2022
—
South Zone[13]
2–7 December 2022
9–11 December 2022
Central Zone
12–18 January 2023
—
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.[12] 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.
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.[14] The draw was announced on 21 July 2022.[10]
Source: [citation needed] Rules for classification: Group tiebreakers (D) Disqualified; (H) Hosts Notes:
^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.[2]
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.[15] The draw was announced on 15 April 2022.[9]
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.[16][17][3]
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.[18][19]
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.[5][6] 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.[4]
A redraw was then conducted on 2 October, with three teams drawn in two groups.[11] The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
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.[13]
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.[8] The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
The following 12 teams qualified for the final tournament.[20] However, South Sudan was disqualified from the tournament after 5 players failed the MRI test.[21]
^Liberia were disqualified from the qualifiers after two of their players failed to pass the MRI test.[2]
^ abChad and DR Congo were disqualified from the qualifiers after one of their players failed to pass the MRI test.[3]
^ abDjibouti & Sudan were disqualified from the qualifiers after some of their players failed to pass the MRI test.[4]
^ abEritrea & Rwanda withdrew from the qualifiers after the group stage draw was conducted.[5][6]
^Angola were disqualified from the qualifiers after a few of their players failed to pass the MRI test.[7]
^Mauritius withdrew from the qualifiers after the group stage draw was conducted.[8]
References
^ ab"Decisions of CAF Executive". sportnewsafrica. 29 September 2021. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
^ abBonaventure, Kolog (3 October 2022). "Liberia disqualified from U17 tournament in Mauritania for age-cheating". ghanasportscenter.com. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
^ abBonaventure, Kolog (12 January 2023). "Le Tchad disqualifié, le tournoi UNIFFAC vire au fiasco". sportnewsafrica.com.
^ ab"Djibouti, Sudan disqualified from U-17 AFCON qualifiers". CECAFA. 1 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
^ ab"Eritrea, Rwanda withdraw from U-17 AFCON qualifiers". cecafaonline.com. 26 September 2022.
^ abGyimah, Edmund Okai (28 September 2022). "Rwanda withdraws from Cecafa U-17 tourney". New Times. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
^ abNdlovu, Maqonda (1 December 2022). "Change of fixture for U-17 football team". nampa.org. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
^ ab"New format for TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations". cosafa.com. 29 November 2022.
^ ab"Ghana to face arch-rivals Nigeria in WAFU B U20 & U17 Championship". CAF. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
^ ab"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.
^ ab"Uganda Cubs to open against Burundi". CECAFA. 2 October 2022.
^ ab"33 joueurs en regroupement à Alger". DZFoot. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
^ ab"Draw completed for TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup Of Nations". COSAFA. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
^"Sierra Leone to open Wafu U17 against host Mauritania". 30 September 2022.
^"Ghana set to stage WAFU-B U17 Championship, tourney set for Saturday kick off". 10 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
^"les u20 et u17 fixes sur leurs adversaires a luniffac". www.leopardsfoot.com. 30 October 2022.
^"uniffac-u-17-20-pairings-made". www.cafonline.com. 20 November 2022.
^"Uganda to face Rwanda in TotalEnergies U-17 AFCON qualifiers for CECAFA Zone". CAF. 15 September 2022.
^"South Africa's Chavani to officiate U-17 AFCON qualifiers for CECAFA". cecafaonline.com. 30 September 2022.
^"TotalEnergies U-17 AFCON draw to be conducted on Wednesday 01 February". CAF. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
^Ninrew, Chany (2023-04-30). "South Sudan U17 disqualified in AFCON over age test". Eye Radio. Retrieved 2023-06-03.