# 2003 African Youth Championship

The 2003 African Youth Championship was an association football tournament for under-20 players (born in 1983 and before). It was held in Burkina Faso from January 4 until January 18. The top four teams qualified for the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.

## Qualification
### Preliminary round

The first leg was played on either 6, 7 or 8 April 2002. The second leg was held on either 19, 20 or 21 April 2002. The winners advanced to the First Round.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Togo | 4–1 | Chad | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 0–6 | Gabon | 0–1 | 0–5 |
| Burundi | 2–3 | Tanzania | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Sudan | 4–4(3-4)(PSO) | Uganda | 3–1 | 1–3 |
| Zimbabwe | 3–1 | Swaziland | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Namibia | 2–3 | Botswana | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Guinea-Bissau | w/o | Liberia | w/o | w/o |
| Cameroon | w/o | São Tomé and Príncipe | w/o | w/o |
| Somalia | w/o | Kenya | w/o | w/o |
| Mauritania | w/o | Sierra Leone | w/o | w/o |
| Mauritius | w/o | Madagascar | w/o | w/o |

### First round

The First Round first leg matches were held on 20 and 21 July 2002. The second leg matches were held on 10 and 11 August 2002. The winners qualified for the Second Round.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Angola | 1–1(1-4)(PK) | Togo | 1–0 | 0-1 |
| Senegal | 3–4 | Gabon | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Tunisia | 7–1 | Libya | 5–0 | 2–1 |
| Cameroon | 4–0 | Tanzania | 4–0 | 0–0 |
| Algeria | 0–5 | Ivory Coast | 0–3 | 0–2 |
| Nigeria | 6–0 | Somalia | 6–0 | |
| Morocco | 2–2 (a) | Guinea | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Egypt | 3–1 | Uganda | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Mozambique | 4–1 | Botswana | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Ethiopia | 0–2 | Zambia | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| South Africa | 5–0 | Madagascar | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Ghana | w/o | Guinea-Bissau | w/o | w/o |
| Zimbabwe | w/o | Malawi | w/o | w/o |
| Mali | w/o | Mauritania | 9 - 1 | w/o |

### Second round

The Second Round first leg matches were played on 28 and 29 September 2002. The second leg matches was played on 20 October 2002. The winners of the aggregate of the two legs qualified for the Finals.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Togo | 2–3 | Gabon | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Ghana | 1–1(5-4)(PSO) | Tunisia | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Cameroon | 2–3 | Ivory Coast | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Nigeria | 2–3 | Morocco | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Mali | 2–0 | Mozambique | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Egypt | 2–0 | Zimbabwe | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Zambia | 4–4 (a) | South Africa | 4–1 | 0–3 |

## Teams

The final tournament, consisting of 8 teams, were held from 18 March to 1 April 2003.
* Egypt
* Morocco
* Ivory Coast
* Ghana
* Gabon
* Burkina Faso (hosts)
* Mali
* South Africa

## Referees

| Referees Pare Lassina Essam Abdel Fattah Atef Yacoubi Samba Diouf Modou Sowe Keita Yakhouba Mochubela Walters Njike Gilbert | Assistant referees Celestin Ntangungira Millogo Brama Nako Boukare Diabate Moussa Bekolo Angoula Robert Kimbatsa Luleseged Begashew Antonio Luciano |

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Mali | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Burkina Faso (H) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Gabon | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | South Africa | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 1 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Egypt | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Ghana | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Morocco | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 1 | |

## Knockout stage

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| A1 | Mali | 0 | | | |
| B2 | Egypt | 1 | | | |
| B2 | Egypt | 1 | Egypt | Egypt | 4 |
| | | | Ivory Coast | Ivory Coast | 3 |
| B1 | Ivory Coast(PSO) | 0(3) | Ivory Coast | Ivory Coast | 3 |
| A2 | Burkina Faso | 0(1) | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | Mali(PSO) | Mali(PSO) | 1(5) |
| | | | Burkina Faso | Burkina Faso | 1(4) |

### Final

* 2003 African Youth Championship winner
* Egypt Third title

## Qualification to World Youth Championship

The four best performing teams qualified for the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.
* Burkina Faso
* Ivory Coast
* Egypt
* Mali