2023_Africa_U-17_Cup_of_Nations
2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations
15th edition of U-17 AFCON
The 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations known as the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes or 2023 U17 AFCON for short was the 14th edition (19th 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 and the first to feature 12 teams in the group stage instead of 8.
| كأس الأمم الإفريقية تحت 17 سنة 2023 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Algeria |
| Dates | 29 April – 19 May |
| Teams | 12 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Senegal (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Morocco |
| Third place |  Burkina Faso |
| Fourth place |  Mali |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 23 |
| Goals scored | 58 (2.52 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Amara Diouf (5 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Souleymane Alio |
| Best goalkeeper | Serigne Diouf |
| Fair play award | Morocco |
2025 → | |
Algeria was chosen as hosts of this edition on 15 May 2021[1][2][3][4] which it organized from 29 April to 19 May. All four semi-finalists qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia as the CAF representatives.
Cameroon were the defending champions but were eliminated in the group stage after losses to Burkina Faso and to Mali. Senegal won their inaugural title, defeating hosts of the cancelled 2021 edition Morocco 2–1 in the final.
The CAF decided on 20 July 2017 that the qualification format should be changed and split according to zones.[5]
Player eligibility
Players born on 1 January 2006 or later were eligible to participate in this edition of the tournament.
Qualified teams
The following twelve teams qualified for the group stages. However, South Sudan was disqualified from this edition of the tournament after 5 of its players failed the MRI test.[6]
Note: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Algeria (hosts) | North Zone | 17 May 2021 | 2nd | 2009 | Runners-up (2009) |
| Morocco | 14 November 2022 | 3rd | 2019 | Fourth place (2013) | |
 Nigeria | West B Zone | 21 June 2022 | 10th | 2019 | Champions (2001, 2007) |
| Burkina Faso | 21 June 2022 | 7th | 2011 | Champions (2011) | |
| Senegal | West A Zone | 7 October 2022 | 3rd | 2019 | Group stage (2011, 2019) |
| Mali | 7 October 2022 | 9th | 2017 | Champions (2015, 2017) | |
 Cameroon | Central Zone | 15 January 2023 | 8th | 2019 | Champions (2003, 2019) |
 Congo | 18 January 2023 | 3rd | 2013 | Third place (2011) | |
 Somalia | Central-East Zone | 12 October 2022 | 1st | None | Debut |
 South Sudan | 12 October 2022 | 1st | None | Debut | |
 South Africa | South Zone | 9 December 2022 | 4th | 2015 | Runners-up (2015) |
 Zambia | 9 December 2022 | 2nd | 2015 | Group stage (2015) |
The Algerian Football Federation choose three venues in three cities across the host nation Algeria for hosting this edition of the competition: Algiers, Annaba and Constantine.[7]
| Algiers | Annaba | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson Mandela Stadium | 19 May 1956 Stadium | ||
| Capacity: 40,784 | Capacity: 58,100 | ||
| Constantine | |||
| Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium | |||
| Capacity: 22,986 | |||
- Referees
Patrice Mebiame
Youcef Gamouh
Vincentia Amedome
Muhammad Elmabrouk
Ousmane Diakaté
Merveil Mandekouzou Vendafara
Akhona Makalima
Nyagrowa Dickens
Adalbert Diouf
Ahmed Arajiga
Soro Tuonifere
Jeannot Bito- Jelly Alfred Chavani
Ben Amisy Tsimanohitsy
Abdulsalam Kasim
- Assistant referees
Adolf Lamien Dofinte- Sirak Menghis
- Abel Abane
Diana Chikotesha
Ronald Katenya
Queency Victoire
Wael Hannachi- Asma Feriel Ouahab
- Stephen Yembe
- Fanta Kone
- Guylain Ngila
Lucky Kegakologetswe
Djery Gomes Lopes- Carine Atezambong Fomo
- Mohamed Serradj
- Eba Médard Ettien
Youssef Mahmoud- Mamadou Ngom
- Mary Njoroge
- Video assistant referees
- Lahlou Benbraham
Ahmed El Ghandour- Ahmad Heeralall
The group stage draw was conducted on 1 February 2023 at 12:00 WET (UTC±0) at the Cercle National de l'Armée in Algiers, the capital city of hosts Algeria.[8] The 12 teams were drawn into 3 groups of 4 teams. As hosts, Algeria was seeded in Group A and allocated to position A1, while 2019 champions Cameroon was seeded in Group C and allocated to position C1 and 4th-place-finished team also from the 2019 edition Nigeria was seeded in Group B and allocated to position B1; the remaining nine teams were seeded based on their results in the previous valid edition in 2019.[9]
| Seeded | Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
|---|---|---|
- Tiebreakers
Teams were ranked according to the three points for a win (3 for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 or none for a loss) and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 13):[10]
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Drawing of lots.
All times are local, WAT and CET (UTC+1).[11]
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Senegal |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Algeria (H) |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Congo |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Somalia |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 1 |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morocco |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Nigeria |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | South Africa |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | Zambia |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 |
| Morocco | 2–0 | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| South Africa | 3–2 | Zambia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report | Mwanza  45', 48' |
| South Africa | 2–3 | Nigeria |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mali |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Burkina Faso |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 | Cameroon |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0 | |
| 4 | South Sudan |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Disqualified |
| Burkina Faso | 2–1 | Cameroon |
|---|---|---|
| S. Alio 76', 79' |
Report | Yondjio 62' |
Ranking of third-placed teams
With South Sudan's disqualification, rankings against the fourth-placed team of group A and B were not counted.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | Congo |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 1 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | B | South Africa |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 0 | |
| 3 | C | Cameroon |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0 |
Bracket
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 10 May – Algiers | ||||||||||
| Senegal | 5 | |||||||||
| 14 May – Annaba | ||||||||||
| South Africa | 0 | |||||||||
| Senegal (p) | 1 (5) | |||||||||
| 11 May – Algiers | ||||||||||
| Burkina Faso | 1 (4) | |||||||||
| Nigeria | 1 | |||||||||
| 19 May –Algiers | ||||||||||
| Burkina Faso | 2 | |||||||||
| Senegal | 2 | |||||||||
| 10 May – Constantine | ||||||||||
| Morocco | 1 | |||||||||
| Morocco | 3 | |||||||||
| 14 May – Constantine | ||||||||||
| Algeria | 0 | |||||||||
| Morocco (p) | 0 (6) | |||||||||
| 11 May – Annaba | ||||||||||
| Mali | 0 (5) | Third place | ||||||||
| Mali | 3 | |||||||||
| 18 May – Annaba | ||||||||||
| Congo | 0 | |||||||||
| Burkina Faso | 2 | |||||||||
| Mali | 1 | |||||||||
Quarter finals
Winners qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia.
| Nigeria | 1–2 | Burkina Faso |
|---|---|---|
| Abdullahi 67' |
Report | A. Camara 45', 57' (pen.) |
Semi-finals
| Senegal | 1–1 | Burkina Faso |
|---|---|---|
| A. Fall 16' |
Report | Ouédraogo 83' |
| Penalties | ||
| 5–4 |
|
|
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| Morocco | 0–0 | Mali |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
|
6–5 |
|
Third-place match
Final
| Senegal | 2–1 | Morocco |
|---|---|---|
|
Report | Aït Boudlal 14' |
| 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations |
|---|
 Senegal First title |
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Golden Boot[12] | Most Valuable Player[12] | Best Goalkeeper[12] | Coach of the Tournament[12] | Fair Play award[12] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amara Diouf |
Souleymane Alio |
Serigne Diouf |
Said Chiba |
Morocco |
- Best XI:[13]
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serigne Diouf |
Lassina Traoré Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal Serigne Fallou Diouf Yahaya Lawali |
Sékou Koné Abdou Aziz Fall Rachid Ouedraogo |
Amara Diouf Souleymane Alio Mamadou Doumbia |
There were 58 goals scored in 23 matches, for an average of 2.52 goals per match.
5 goals
4 goals
- Mamadou Doumbia
3 goals
- Moslem Anatouf
Zakaria Ouazane- Vicky Mkhawana
- Emmanuel Mwanza
2 goals
- Souleymane Alio
- Aboubacar Camara
- Mahamoud Barry
- Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal
- Abubakar Abdullahi
- Serigne Fallou Diouf
- Mamadou Savane
1 goal
- Appolinaire Bougma
- Ousmane Camara
- Rachide Ouédraogo
- Matah Yondjio
Joseph Ndzoukou- Wumba Nzouzi
- Ange Martial Tia
- Adam Chakir
- Adam Hanin
- Abdelhamid Maâli
- Charles Agada
- Favour Daniel
- Light Eke
- Yaya Diémé
- Abdou Aziz Fall
- Mamadou Sadio
Diini Mohamed- Michael Dokunmu
- Siyabonga Mabena
- Samson Malaya
1 own goal
- Said Mohamed (against Senegal)
- Waylon Renecke (against Senegal)
- Benjamin Wallis (against Senegal)
The following teams from CAF qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA U-17 World Cup1 |
|---|---|---|
| Senegal | 10 May 2023 | 1 (2019) |
| Morocco | 10 May 2023 | 1 (2013) |
| Mali | 11 May 2023 | 5 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2015, 2017) |
| Burkina Faso | 11 May 2023 | 4 (1999, 2001, 2009, 2011) |
- 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
- "🟧 CAF Executive Committee Media Statement". CAFOnline.com. 15 May 2021. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
TOTAL CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations 2023: Algeria
- "L'Algérie organisera l'édition 2023" [Foot / CAN U17: Algeria will organize the 2023 edition]. Le Soir d'Algerie (in French). 15 May 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- "La CAF confie au Algérie l'organisation de la CAN U17 en 2023" [CAF: CAN U17 in Algeria, CAN U20 en Egypt]. Afrik Foot (in French). 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- "U17 AFCON: Algeria to host the 2023 edition". Sport News Africa. 17 May 2021. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
- "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee – 20 July 2017". CAFOnline.com. 20 July 2017. Archived from the original on 22 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
The Committee decided to organize zonal qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations for the youth categories (U-17, U-20, U-23), with the flexibility offered to each zone to propose a formula. The committee also resolved to strengthen medical checks in determining the eligibility of players.
- Ninrew, Chany (30 April 2023). "South Sudan U17 disqualified in AFCON over age test". South Sudan Eye Radio. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- "TotalEnergies U-17 AFCON Algeria 2023 full fixtures released". CAFOnline.com. 2 February 2023. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- "TotalEnergies U-17 AFCON draw to be conducted on Wednesday 01 February". CAFOnline.com. 25 January 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- "TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations Algeria 2023 Draw Procedure" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 24 January 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- "U-17 AFCON Regulations" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
- "Algeria 2023 Fixtures U17" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 2 February 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- "Burkina Faso's Alio named TotalEnergies U17 AFCON MVP". CAFOnline.com. 20 May 2023. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- "Senegal's dominance shines in TotalEnergies U17 AFCON Best XI". CAFOnline.com. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.