# 2019 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations

The 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations was the third edition of the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, the quadrennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the men's under-23 national teams of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt between 8 and 22 November 2019.
The tournament was initially scheduled to take place in Zambia, but they withdrew from hosting in July 2017. Egypt was announced as the new host nation of the tournament by CAF on 23 September 2017.
Same as previous editions, the tournament served as African qualifying for the Olympic football tournament, with the top three teams of the tournament qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympic men's football tournament in Japan.
Nigeria were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage. Egypt defeated Ivory Coast 2–1 at extra time in the final, winning the title for the first time in their history, while South Africa came third for the second times in a row after beating Ghana 6–5 on penalties after the match ended 2–2 in their third-place play-off match.

## Qualification

Egypt qualified automatically as hosts, while the remaining seven spots were determined by the qualifying rounds.

### Qualified teams

The following eight teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Appearance | Previous best performance |
| Egypt (hosts) | 3rd | Third place (2011) |
| Cameroon | 1st | Debut |
| Ghana | 1st | Debut |
| Ivory Coast | 2nd | Group stage (2011) |
| Mali | 2nd | Group stage (2015) |
| Nigeria | 3rd | Champions (2015) |
| South Africa | 3rd | Third place (2015) |
| Zambia | 2nd | Group stage (2015) |

## Venues

The tournament used two venues, Cairo International Stadium and Al Salam Stadium, both in Cairo.
| Cairo | Cairo | Cairo | Cairo |
| Cairo | Cairo | Cairo International Stadium | Al Salam Stadium |
| Cairo | Cairo | Capacity: 75,000 | Capacity: 30,000 |

## Squads

Each team had to register a squad of 21 players. Only players born on or after 1 January 1997 were eligible to compete in the tournament (Regulations Article 45).

## Draw

The draw of the final tournament was held on 2 October 2019, 19:00 CAT (UTC+2), at the Haramlek Palace of Montaza Complex in Alexandria. The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. The hosts Egypt were seeded in Group A (position A1), and the defending champions Nigeria were seeded in Group B (position B1). The remaining teams were allocated to two pots based on the results of the 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, and were drawn to the remaining positions in their group.
| Seeds | Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
| Egypt (position A1)  Nigeria (position B1) | South Africa  Mali | Zambia  Ghana  Ivory Coast  Cameroon |

## Match officials

On 31 October 2019, CAF released the list of 12 referees and 13 assistant referees selected to oversee matches. This is the first time CAF appointed female match officials for the tournament.
| Regional Federation | Referees | Assistant Referees |
| UNAF | Lahlou Benbraham Mohamed Maarouf Slim Belkhouas | Youssef El Bosaty Fathia Jermoumi Khalil Hassani |
| WAFU-UFOA | Louis Houngnandande Boubou Traoré Daouda Guèye | Judicael Sanou Abdul Aziz Bollel Jawo Firmino Bassafim Abdoul Aziz Moctar Saley Samuel Pwadutakam |
| UNIFFAC | Pierre Atcho | Abelmiro dos Reis |
| CECAFA | Georges Gatogato Souleiman Ahmed Djama Salima Mukansanga | Dick Okello |
| COSAFA | Ali Mohamed Adelaide Andofetra Rakotojaona | Ivanildo Meirelles Lopes James Emile Diana Chikotesha |

## Group stage

The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

### Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 68):
* 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, CAT (UTC+2).

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Egypt (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Ghana | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Cameroon | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Mali | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | South Africa | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Nigeria | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Zambia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 | |

## Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary, except for the third place match where a direct penalty shoot-out, without extra time, would be used to decide the winner if necessary.

### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 19 November – Cairo International | 19 November – Cairo International |
| Egypt | 3 |
| Egypt | 3 | 22 November – Cairo International | 22 November – Cairo International |
| South Africa | 0 | 22 November – Cairo International | 22 November – Cairo International |
| South Africa | 0 | Egypt (a.e.t.) | 2 |
| 19 November – Cairo International | 19 November – Cairo International | | Egypt (a.e.t.) | 2 |
| 19 November – Cairo International | 19 November – Cairo International | Ivory Coast | 1 |
| Ivory Coast (p) | 2 (3) | Ivory Coast | 1 |
| Ghana | 2 (2) | | |
| Ghana | 2 (2) | Third place match | Third place match |
| | | 22 November – Cairo International | 22 November – Cairo International |
| | | South Africa (p) | 2 (6) |
| | | Ghana | 2 (5) |

### Semi-finals

Winners qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

### Third place match

Winners qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

### Final
## Winners

* 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations champions
* Egypt First title

## Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Top Scorer | Best Player | Best Goalkeeper | Fair Play Award |
| Mostafa Mohamed (4 goals) | Ramadan Sobhi | Mohamed Sobhy | Egypt |

### Team of the tournament

The team of the tournament was announced by the CAF after the final.
Coach: Shawky Gharieb
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Mohamed Sobhy | Tercious Malepe Kouadio-Yves Dabila Ahmed Ramadan Silas Gnaka | Aboubakar Keita Amar Hamdy Evans Mensah | Ramadan Sobhi Mostafa Mohamed Youssouf Dao |

## Qualified teams for Summer Olympics

The following three teams from CAF qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympic men's football tournament.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in Summer Olympics |
| Ivory Coast | 19 November 2019 | 1 (2008) |
| Egypt | 19 November 2019 | 11 (1920, 1924, 1928, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1960, 1964, 1984, 1992, 2012) |
| South Africa | 22 November 2019 | 2 (2000, 2016) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champions for that year.

## Goalscorers

There were 35 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 2.19 goals per match.
4 goals
* Mostafa Mohamed
3 goals
* Ramadan Sobhi
2 goals
* Franck Evina
* Abdel Rahman Magdy
* Owusu Kwabena
* Evans Mensah
* Samuel Obeng
* Yaw Yeboah
* Youssouf Dao
1 goal
* Eric Ayuk
* Karim El Eraky
* Ahmed Yasser Rayyan
* Habib Mohammed
* Kouadio-Yves Dabila
* Aboubacar Doumbia
* Silas Gnaka
* Taiwo Awoniyi
* Kelechi Nwakali
* Orji Okwonkwo
* Kamohelo Mahlatsi
* Teboho Mokoena
* Patson Daka
1 own goal
* Habib Mohammed (against South Africa)