2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations

2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations
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 international youth football tournament organized by CAF for players aged 17 and below.
In May 2021, it was decided that the tournament would be hosted by Algeria. This was the first edition of the tournament with twelve teams instead of eight. The top four teams of the tournament 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, following a 2–1 loss to Burkina Faso and a 2–0 loss to Mali. Senegal won the tournament for the first time, defeating Morocco 2–1 in the final.
Qualification
The CAF decided in July 2017 that the format of the qualifying competition should be changed and split according to zones. At the end of the qualification phase, eleven teams joined the hosts Algeria.
Player eligibility
Players born on 1 January 2006 or later are eligible to participate in the competition.
Qualified teams
The following twelve teams qualified for the final tournament. However, South Sudan was disqualified from the tournament after 5 players failed the MRI test.
Note: All appearance statistics count only those since the introduction of the final tournament in 1995.
Venues
The Algerian Football Federation choose three venues in three cities across the host nation Algeria for hosting the competition: Algiers, Annaba and Constantine.
Match officials
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
Squads
Draw
The draw of the final tournament was held on 1 February 2023, 12:00 WET (UTC±0), at the Cercle National de l'Armée in Algiers, Algeria, The twelve teams were drawn into three groups of four teams. The hosts Algeria is seeded in Group A and allocated to position A1, while Cameroon the 2019 champions is seeded in Group C and allocated to position C1, and Nigeria the 2019 fourth place is seeded in Group B and allocated to position B1, while the remaining nine teams are seeded based on their results in the 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.
Group stage
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 13):
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).
Group A
Group B
Group C
Ranking of third-placed teams
With South Sudan's disqualification, rankings against the fourth-placed team of group A and B were not counted.
Knockout stage
Bracket
Quarter finals
Winners qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Semi finals
Third place
Final
Winners
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
Best XI:
Goalscorers
Qualified teams for the FIFA U-17 World Cup
The following four teams from CAF qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia.
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
See also
2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations
References
10. ↑ U-17 Africa Cup of Nations 2023 Live Streaming & TV Channels, 20 April 2023
External links
Official home of the 2023 edition at CAFOnline.com
[video] The African Dream - CAN -17 closing ceremony
2023 in African football
2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup qualification
2023 in youth association football
U-17 Africa Cup of Nations
International association football competitions hosted by Algeria
2023 Africa Cup of Nations