# 2017 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations

The 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, officially known as the Total U-17 Africa Cup Of Nations, Gabon 2017, 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.
The top four teams qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.

## Host selection

The tournament was originally set to take place in Madagascar between 2–16 April 2017. 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.
On 3 February 2017, Gabon were selected as the new hosts, and the tournament will now be played from 14 to 28 May 2017 (originally from 21 May to 4 June 2017).

## Qualification

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. Mali were cleared to compete after their suspension was lifted by FIFA on 28 April 2017.
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 |

## Venues

The two venues were confirmed in March 2017.
| Libreville | LibrevillePort-Gentil | Port-Gentil |
| Stade de l'Amitié | LibrevillePort-Gentil | Stade de Port-Gentil |
| Capacity: 40,000 | LibrevillePort-Gentil | Capacity: 20,000 |
| 0°31′27″N 9°23′52″E﻿ / ﻿0.524167°N 9.397778°E﻿ / 0.524167; 9.397778﻿ (Stade de l'Amitié) | LibrevillePort-Gentil | 0°43′00″S 8°47′00″E﻿ / ﻿0.716667°S 8.783333°E﻿ / -0.716667; 8.783333﻿ (Stade de Port Gentil) |
Original venues of Madagascar before hosts were withdrawn.
| Stadium | City | Capacity |
| Mahamasina Stadium | Antananarivo | 22,000 |
| Vontovorona Sport Complex | Vontovorona | ? |

## Draw

The draw for the tournament took place on 24 October 2016, 11:00 local time (UTC+2) at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo.
The teams were seeded based on the results of the last edition (final tournament and qualifiers).
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
| Gabon (replaced Madagascar after draw) (host, assigned to A1)  Mali (2015 winner, assigned to B1) | Guinea  Niger | Cameroon  Angola | Ghana  Tanzania (replaced Congo after draw) |

## Squads

Each squad can contain a maximum of 21 players.

## Match officials

A total of 14 referees and 15 assistant referees were selected for the tournament.
| Referees | Mohamed Maarouf Eid Souleiman Ahmed Djamal Ferdinand Udoh Aniete Mustapha Ghorbal Mihindou Mbina Gauthier Abou Coulibaly Hamada Nampiandraza Pacifique Ndabihawenimana Davies Ogenche Omweno Hassan Mohamed Hagi Maguette Ndiaye Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo |
| Reserve Referees | Haithem Kossai Daniel Nii Ayi Laryea |
| Assistant Referees | Mahmoud Abouelregal Aymen Ismail Seydou Tiama Moussounda Montel Souru Phatsoane Gilbert Lista Gbèmassiandan Kouton Arsénio Marengula Lahcen Azgaou Abdoul Aziz Moctar Saley Mamady Tere Frank John Komba Temesgin Samuel Atango Soulaimane Amaldine |
| Reserve Assistant Referee | Attia Amsaad |

## Group stage

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:
* 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 | Knockout stage and 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup |
| 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 | Knockout stage and 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup |
| 3 | Tanzania | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Angola | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 1 | |

## Knockout stage

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).

### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 24 May – Port-Gentil | 24 May – Port-Gentil |
| Ghana (p) | 0 (6) |
| Ghana (p) | 0 (6) | 28 May – Libreville | 28 May – Libreville |
| Niger | 0 (5) | 28 May – Libreville | 28 May – Libreville |
| Niger | 0 (5) | Ghana | 0 |
| 24 May – Libreville | 24 May – Libreville | | Ghana | 0 |
| 24 May – Libreville | 24 May – Libreville | Mali | 1 |
| Mali (p) | 0 (2) | Mali | 1 |
| Guinea | 0 (0) | | |
| Guinea | 0 (0) | Third place | Third place |
| | | 28 May – Libreville | 28 May – Libreville |
| | | Niger | 1 |
| | | Guinea | 3 |

### Final
## Goalscorers
### 6 goals

* Djibril Touré

### 4 goals

* Eric Ayiah

### 3 goals

* Hadji Dramé

### 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

## Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup

The following four teams from CAF qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament |
| 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.