# 2021 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

The 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-17 football competition which decided the teams that would have participated in the 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.
Players born 1 January 2004 or later were eligible to participate in the competition. A total of twelve teams qualified and would have played in the final tournament, including Morocco who qualified automatically as hosts.

## Teams

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.
| Zone | Spots | Teams entering qualification | Did not enter |
| North Zone (UNAF) | 1 spot + hosts | Algeria (H)  Libya  Tunisia | Morocco (Q)  Egypt |
| West A Zone (WAFU-UFOA A) | 2 spots | Gambia (D)  Guinea-Bissau  Mali  Mauritania  Senegal (H)  Sierra Leone (D) | Cape Verde  Guinea  Liberia |
| West B Zone (WAFU-UFOA B) | 2 spots | Benin  Burkina Faso  Ghana  Ivory Coast  Niger  Nigeria  Togo (H, D) | |
| Central Zone (UNIFFAC) | 2 spots | Cameroon  Central African Republic  Chad  Congo  DR Congo  Equatorial Guinea  Gabon  São Tomé and Príncipe | |
| Central-East Zone (CECAFA) | 2 spots | Djibouti  Ethiopia  Kenya  Rwanda (H)  Tanzania  Uganda  South Sudan (D) | Eritrea  Burundi  Somalia  Sudan |
| South Zone (COSAFA) | 2 spots | Angola  Botswana (D)  Comoros (D)  Eswatini (D)  Malawi  South Africa (H)  Zambia  Zimbabwe (D) | Lesotho  Madagascar  Mauritius  Mozambique  Namibia  Seychelles |

### Notes

* Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
* (H): Qualifying tournament hosts
* (Q): Automatically qualified for final tournament regardless of qualification results
* (D): Disqualified

## Schedule

The qualifying competition is split into regional competitions, with the teams entering the qualifying tournament of their zone. The final arrangements of the zonal qualifiers were decided later due to the delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The schedule of each qualifying zone is as follows.
| Zone | Group stage | Knockout stage |
| South Zone | 22–26 November 2020 | 29 November 2020 |
| Originally set to be played between 22 July–1 August 2020 in Malawi ||
| Central-East Zone | 13–18 December 2020 | 20–22 December 2020 |
| Originally set to be played at the beginning of July ||
| West B Zone | 8–12 January 2021 | 15–18 January 2021 |
| Originally set to be played between 15–30 June 2020 in Benin ||
| North Zone | 18–24 January 2021 | — |
| Originally set to be played between 15–24 July 2020 ||
| Central Zone | 14–19 July 2020 (postponed, originally in Cameroon) | 21–23 July 2020 (postponed, originally in Cameroon) |
| West A Zone | 8–15 August 2020 (postponed, originally in Sierra Leone) | 19–22 August 2020 (postponed, originally in Sierra Leone) |

## North Zone

The UNAF U-17 Tournament, which also served as the qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations was initially planned to be hosted by Algeria between 15–24 July 2020. However, it could not be held in the scheduled time span because of the COVID-19 pandemic and was later scheduled and held between 18–24 January 2021. The matches were played at Algiers (Stade du 5 Juillet).
The draw for the fixtures was held on 30 December 2020. The three teams were placed in one group, with the winners qualifying for the final tournament. Morocco didn't participate in the qualifiers as they had already qualified as the hosts of the final tournament.
All times are local, CET (UTC+1).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Algeria (H) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 | 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations |
| 2 | Tunisia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Libya | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 0 | |

## West A Zone

The 2021 WAFU Zone A Tournament which serves as the qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations was initially planned to be hosted from 11–20 December 2020 in Sierra Leone, but was postponed. The tournament was later shifted and held in Senegal between 5–13 February 2021.

### Group stage
#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Senegal (H) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 3 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Mauritania | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | Gambia (D) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Disqualified |
* ↑ Gambia were disqualified from the qualifiers after some players failed to pass the MRI test. They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all previous matches played by them shall be considered "null and void" and would not be considered in determining the final group rankings.'"`UNIQ--ref-0000005D-QINU`"'

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Mali | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 3 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Guinea-Bissau | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | Sierra Leone (D) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Disqualified |
* ↑ Sierra Leone were disqualified from the qualifiers after some players failed to pass the MRI test. They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all previous matches played by them shall be considered "null and void" and would not be considered in determining the final group rankings.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000087-QINU`"'

### Knockout stage

In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, a penalty shoot-out without extra time was used to determine the winners.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 11 February– Stade Lat-Dior | 11 February– Stade Lat-Dior |
| Senegal | 4 |
| Senegal | 4 | 13 February – Stade Lat-Dior | 13 February – Stade Lat-Dior |
| Guinea-Bissau | 0 | 13 February – Stade Lat-Dior | 13 February – Stade Lat-Dior |
| Guinea-Bissau | 0 | Senegal | 2 |
| 11 February –Stade Lat-Dior | 11 February –Stade Lat-Dior | | Senegal | 2 |
| 11 February –Stade Lat-Dior | 11 February –Stade Lat-Dior | Mali | 0 |
| Mali | 5 | Mali | 0 |
| Mauritania | 1 | | |

#### Final
## West B Zone

The 2021 WAFU Zone B Tournament which serves as a qualifier tournament for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations was initially planned to be hosted by Benin from 15–30 June 2020, but was later shifted and held in Togo between 5–18 January 2021. The matches were played at Lomé (Stade de Kégué and Stade Municipal).
All times are local, GMT (UTC±0).

### Group stage

The seven teams were drawn into two groups of three and four teams. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Burkina Faso | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 4 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Niger | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 4 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | Benin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 | |
| 4 | Togo (H, D) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Disqualified |
* ↑ Togo were disqualified from the qualifiers after two of their players failed to pass the MRI test. They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all previous matches played by them shall be considered "null and void" and would not be considered in determining the final group rankings.'"`UNIQ--ref-000000D4-QINU`"'

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Ivory Coast | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Nigeria | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 1 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | Ghana | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 1 | |

### Knockout stage

In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, a penalty shoot-out without extra time was used to determine the winners.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 15 January – Stade de Kégué | 15 January – Stade de Kégué |
| Burkina Faso | 0 |
| Burkina Faso | 0 | 18 January – Stade de Kégué | 18 January – Stade de Kégué |
| Nigeria | 1 | 18 January – Stade de Kégué | 18 January – Stade de Kégué |
| Nigeria | 1 | Nigeria | 2 |
| 15 January – Stade de Kégué | 15 January – Stade de Kégué | | Nigeria | 2 |
| 15 January – Stade de Kégué | 15 January – Stade de Kégué | Ivory Coast | 3 |
| Ivory Coast | 1 | Ivory Coast | 3 |
| Niger | 0 | | |
| Niger | 0 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 18 January – Stade de Kégué | 18 January – Stade de Kégué |
| | | Burkina Faso | 1(10) |
| | | Niger | 1 (9) |

#### Final
## Central Zone

The 2021 UNIFFAC U17 Tournament which would have served as a qualifier tournament for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations was initially planned to be held in Cameroon on 2020, and then in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in February 2021.
In February 2021, this tournament was finally cancelled by CAF due to the absence of a host country and the absence of an MRI machine in most of the countries of this zone. For the 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, CAF decided to qualify Cameroon and Congo, the two finalists of the last edition of the zonal qualifiers of UNIFFAC in 2018.

## Central-East Zone

The CECAFA qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations were initially planned to be hosted at the beginning of July 2020 but were then later shifted to 13–22 December 2020. Nine teams were drawn into three groups of three teams during the draw made in October. However, two teams, namely Eritrea and Sudan withdrew before the start of the tournament and the seven remaining teams were then redrawn into new groups. The matches were played at Gisenyi (Umuganda Stadium).
All times are local, CAT (UTC+2).

### Group stage

The seven teams were drawn into two groups of three and four teams. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Uganda | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 6 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Ethiopia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 1 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | Kenya | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 | |
| 4 | South Sudan (D) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Disqualified |
* ↑ South Sudan were disqualified from the qualifiers after four of their players failed to pass the MRI test.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000161-QINU`"'

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Tanzania | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 4 | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Djibouti | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Semi-finals |
| 3 | Rwanda (H) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 | |

### Knockout stage

In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, a penalty shoot-out without extra time was used to determine the winners.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 20 December – Umuganda Stadium | 20 December – Umuganda Stadium |
| Uganda | 1 |
| Uganda | 1 | 22 December – Umuganda Stadium | 22 December – Umuganda Stadium |
| Djibouti | 0 | 22 December – Umuganda Stadium | 22 December – Umuganda Stadium |
| Djibouti | 0 | Uganda | 3 |
| 20 December – Umuganda Stadium | 20 December – Umuganda Stadium | | Uganda | 3 |
| 20 December – Umuganda Stadium | 20 December – Umuganda Stadium | Tanzania | 1 |
| Tanzania | 1 (4) | Tanzania | 1 |
| Ethiopia | 1 (3) | | |
| Ethiopia | 1 (3) | Third place | Third place |
| | | 22 December – Umuganda Stadium | 22 December – Umuganda Stadium |
| | | Djibouti | 2 |
| | | Ethiopia | 5 |

#### Final
## South Zone

The COSAFA U-17 Championship was initially planned to be hosted by Malawi between 22 July–1 August 2020 with the matches planned to be played at Blantyre, as the region's qualifying tournament. Malawi, however, were not able to host the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hosting rights were later awarded to South Africa with the matches being played at Nelson Mandela Bay (Gelvandale Stadium and Westbourne Oval Stadium).
All times are local, SAST (UTC+2).

### Group stage

Eight teams were drawn into two groups during the draw. South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, and Eswatini were drawn into Group A and Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and Comoros were drawn into Group B. However, on 20 November after the first set of matches were already played on 19 November, 4 teams namely – Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini and Zimbabwe were disqualified from the tournament for having at least one of their players fail the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test. The tournament was later restarted on 22 November 2020 as a four-team tournament and was played on a round-robin basis. The matches which had been played were then later regarded as warm-up games with no bearing to the new tournament format.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Zambia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 9 | 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations |
| 2 | South Africa (H) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations |
| 3 | Angola | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 3 | |
| 4 | Malawi | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 1 | |

### Final
## Qualified teams

The following 12 teams qualify for the final tournament.
| Team | Zone | Qualified on | Previous appearances in Africa U-17 Cup of Nations only final tournament era (since 1995) |
| Morocco (hosts) | North Zone | 28 September 2018 | 2 (2013, 2019) |
| Algeria | North Zone | 24 January 2021 | 1 (2009) |
| Senegal | West A Zone | 11 February 2021 | 2 (2011, 2019) |
| Mali | West A Zone | 11 February 2021 | 8 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2011, 2015, 2017) |
| Nigeria | West B Zone | 15 January 2021 | 9 (1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2019) |
| Ivory Coast | West B Zone | 15 January 2021 | 5 (1997, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2015) |
| Cameroon | Central Zone | 20 February 2021 | 7 (1999, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2015, 2017, 2019) |
| Congo | Central Zone | 20 February 2021 | 2 (2011, 2013) |
| Uganda | Central-East Zone | 20 December 2020 | 1 (2019) |
| Tanzania | Central-East Zone | 20 December 2020 | 2 (2017, 2019) |
| Zambia | South Zone | 24 November 2020 | 1 (2015) |
| South Africa | South Zone | 26 November 2020 | 3 (2005, 2007, 2015) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

## Goalscorers

There were 141 goals scored in 42 matches, for an average of 3.36 goals per match.
6 goals
* Ibou Sané
* Oscar Mawa
5 goals
* Bandjoukou Diallo
* Joseph Banda
4 goals
* Custódio Hequele
3 goals
* Abdramane Konaté
* Sekongo Foungognon
* Mamadou Gning
2 goals
* Jeremias Kossi
* Yamirou Ouorou
* Abdoul Ouattara
* Gaoussou Diakité
* Ayoub Hadi
* Yodahe Bakalo
* Bereket Jiru
* Bereket Rameto
* Seydou Traoré
* Chifundo Mphasi
* Samson Zakeyu
* Boua Kané
* Souleymane Daouda
* Abdoulaye Ousmane
* Ahmed Abdullahi
* Modou Niang
* Thabang Mahlangu
* Mduduzi Shabalala
* Omar Mvungi
* Ivan Irinimbabazi
* Travis Mutyaba
* Charles Majapa
* Rickson Ng’ambi
1 goal
* Djibril Nottebaere
* Mohamed Rafik Omar
* Anis Ouchouache
* Edhy Zuliani
* Armindo Canji
* Alexandre Cucao
* Vicente Domingos
* Osvaldo Inga
* António Lopes
* Zakaria Tinta
* Bachirou Yaméogo
* Moktar Djama Ali
* Mikiyas Ganta
* Miraj Nagash
* Mahmudu Bajo
* Abdoulie Baldeh
* Bakary Jatta
* Modou Marong
* John Batigi
* Abdul Fatawu Issahaku
* Patrick Pessi
* Cédric Don
* Sindou Koné
* Charles Likpa
* James Gachago
* Umar Rajab
* Abdulsamia Abdulnabi
* Abdulmuyassir Boushibah
* Stevie Banda
* Andrew Lameck
* Tidiane Danioko
* Mamadou Doumbia
* Yacouba Koïta
* Yacouba Maïga
* Abdoul Traoré
* Oumar Ngom
* Harouna Hassane
* Joseph Arumala
* Michael Emmanuel
* Eric Irihamye
* Ousmane Diop
* Mame Faye
* Famady Traoré
* Keaviano Francis
* Omari Bakari
* Kassimu Yahaya
* Mawussi Adohoun
* Kokou Dotsè
* Baboulin Kolani
* Ouzeroudine Kpérédja
* Robert Sedzro
* Firas Mahdouani
* Youssef Senana
* Mohamed Nasser Trabelsi
* Ibrahim Juma
* Ronald Madoi
* Teddy Khumalo
1 own goal
* Djibril Nottebaere (against Libya)
* Abdek Mouhoumed (against Tanzania)
* Vincent Mulema (against Tanzania)