2017_U-17_Africa_Cup_of_Nations
2017 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations
International football competition
The 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, officially known as the Total U-17 Africa Cup Of Nations, Gabon 2017,[1] was the 12th edition of the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations (17th edition if tournaments without hosts are included), the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for players aged 17 and below.
| Coupe d'Afrique des nations des moins de 17 ans 2017 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country |  Gabon |
| Dates | 14–28 May |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Mali (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Ghana |
| Third place |  Guinea |
| Fourth place |  Niger |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 41 (2.56 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Fandjé Touré (6 goals) |
← 2015 2019 → | |
The top four teams qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.
The tournament was originally set to take place in Madagascar between 2–16 April 2017.[2] However, the CAF Executive Committee decided on 12 January 2017 to withdraw the hosting rights from Madagascar following the reports of the CAF inspection teams.[3]
On 3 February 2017, Gabon were selected as the new hosts,[4] and the tournament will now be played from 14 to 28 May 2017 (originally from 21 May to 4 June 2017).[5][6]
The qualifiers were played between June and October 2016. At the end of the qualification phase, seven teams joined the hosts Gabon.
Player eligibility
Players born 1 January 2000 or later are eligible to participate in the competition.
Qualified teams
Gabon replaced Madagascar due to their selection as the new hosts. Moreover, Tanzania replaced Congo due to a Congolese player failing to turn up for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test.[5] Mali were cleared to compete after their suspension was lifted by FIFA on 28 April 2017.[7]
Note: All appearance statistics count only those since the introduction of final tournament in 1995.
| Team | Appearance | Previous best appearance |
|---|---|---|
 Angola | 3rd | Group stage (1997, 1999) |
 Cameroon | 6th | Champions (2003) |
| Gabon (hosts) | 3rd | Group stage (2007, 2013) |
| Ghana | 7th | Champions (1995, 1999) |
| Guinea | 6th | Third place (1995, 2015) |
| Mali | 8th | Champions (2015) |
| Niger | 2nd | Group stage (2015) |
 Tanzania | 1st | Debut |
The two venues were confirmed in March 2017.[6]
Original venues of Madagascar before hosts were withdrawn.
| Stadium | City | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Mahamasina Stadium | Antananarivo | 22,000 |
| Vontovorona Sport Complex | Vontovorona | ? |
The draw for the tournament took place on 24 October 2016, 11:00 local time (UTC+2) at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo.[8][9][10]
The teams were seeded based on the results of the last edition (final tournament and qualifiers).[11]
Each squad can contain a maximum of 21 players.[12]
A total of 14 referees and 15 assistant referees were selected for the tournament.[13][14]
| Referees |
|
|---|---|
| Reserve Referees |
|
| Assistant Referees |
|
| Reserve Assistant Referee |
|
The group winners and runners-up advance to the semi-finals and qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
- Tiebreakers
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[12]
- Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
- Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
- Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
- If, after applying criteria 1 to 3 to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 7 apply;
- Goal difference in all games;
- Goals scored in all games;
- Drawing of lots.
All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ghana |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 7 | Knockout stage and 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup |
| 2 | Guinea |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 5 | |
| 3 | Cameroon |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 4 | |
| 4 | Gabon (H) |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 | −10 | 0 |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mali |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 7 | Knockout stage and 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup |
| 2 | Niger |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | Tanzania |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Angola |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 1 |
In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, kicks from the penalty mark are used to determine the winner (no extra time shall be played).[12]
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 24 May – Port-Gentil | ||||||
| Ghana (p) | 0 (6) | |||||
| 28 May – Libreville | ||||||
| Niger | 0 (5) | |||||
| Ghana | 0 | |||||
| 24 May – Libreville | ||||||
| Mali | 1 | |||||
| Mali (p) | 0 (2) | |||||
| Guinea | 0 (0) | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| 28 May – Libreville | ||||||
| Niger | 1 | |||||
| Guinea | 3 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Ghana | 0–0 | Niger |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
Owusu  Acquah Iddriss Ayiah  Osman Sulley Toku |
6–5 | Habibou Ajina Massamba Magagi Namata Souley Mossi |
Third place match
Final
- 6 goals
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
Melo
Stéphane Zobo
Ibrahim Sulley- Emmanuel Toku
Elhadj Bah
Lassana N'Diaye
Ibrahim Marou- Abdoul Karim Sanda
- 1 goal
- Gelson
- Tombé
Fahd Moubeti- Patmos Arhin
- Aguibou Camara
- Mohamed Camara
- Semé Camara
- Ibrahim Kané
- Mamadou Samaké
- Sofiane Habibou
Kelvin Naftal- Abdul Suleiman
The following four teams from CAF qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[17][18][19]
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament1 |
|---|---|---|
| Mali | 21 May 2017 | 4 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2015) |
| Ghana | 17 May 2017 | 8 (1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2007) |
| Guinea | 20 May 2017 | 4 (1985, 1989, 1995, 2015) |
| Niger | 21 May 2017 | 0 (Debut) |
- 1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
- "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAF. 21 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016.
- "Fixtures of U-17 & U-20 AFCON qualifiers released". Confederation of African Football. 5 February 2016.
- "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee". CAF. 13 January 2017.
- "Gabon new host for U17 Championship". SuperSport. 3 February 2017.
- "Gabon new host of 2017 AFCON U-17". CAF. 4 February 2017.
- "Decisions of the CAF Executive Committee of 14 March 2017". CAFonline.com. 14 March 2017.
- "FIFA lifts suspension of Mali Football Federation". CAF. 29 April 2017.
- "Media accreditation for draw of u-17 & u-20 AFCON final tournaments". CAFonline.com. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- "Draw Procedure: TOTAL U-17 AFCON & TOTAL U-20 AFCON". CAF. 23 October 2016.
- "Results of draw: Total U-17 Africa Cup of Nations MADAGASCAR 2017". CAF. 24 October 2016.
- "Regulations of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations" (PDF). CAFonline.com. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- "Match officials for Total U-17 AFCON Gabon 2017 announced". CAF. 20 April 2017.
- "Laryea among 29 refs for U17 Afcon". SuperSport. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- "Ghana ease their way to India". FIFA.com. 17 May 2017. Archived from the original on May 18, 2017.
- "Guinea join Ghana on plane to India". FIFA.com. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original on May 24, 2017.
- "Mali and Niger seal Africa's final tickets to India". FIFA.com. 21 May 2017. Archived from the original on May 21, 2017.
- Total U-17 Africa Cup Of Nations, Gabon 2017, CAFonline.com