U-17 AFCON
CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off with Morocco-Uganda opener
Hosts Morocco will be up against East African opponents for the first time at the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) when they clash with Uganda in the opening game of the tournament on Sunday (kick-off 22h00 local time / GMT).
It will be a CECAFA double for the Moroccans on home soil as they face Tanzania in their final pool game too.
Uganda are making their second appearance at the finals in its current guise and will also face North African opposition for the first time, and on the second occasion, they will face the tournament hosts.
In their debut appearance in 2019, they met hosts Tanzania in their second game in Group A, a match they won 3-0 in Dar es Salaam.
Morocco becomes the fourth different nation that Uganda will face at the finals, they have previously met Angola, Nigeria and Tanzania.
The record of the host nation in their first game at the finals reads P14 W6 D1 L7.
The first five hosts between 1995 and 2003, Mali, Botswana, Guinea, Seychelles and Eswatini failed to win their opening game (D1 L4). In this time only Guinea, who drew with Cameroon in their opening game in 1999, avoided defeat.
Gambia were the first hosts to win their opening game, doing so with a 1-0 victory against Burkina Faso.
Thereafter, the next four tournament hosts, Togo in 2007, Algeria in 2009, Rwanda in 2011 and Morocco in 2013, won their opening game.
The biggest loss for a tournament host in their opening game was a 5-0 defeat for Seychelles in 2001 against Cameroon.
In four successive finals between 2005 and 2011, the hosts reached the final. In this run, only Gambia (2005) managed to win the tournament.
MOROCCO FACTS
· Morocco are making their fourth appearance at the finals along with 2013, 2019 and 2023.
· They will be hosting the tournament for a second time after 2013.
· Morocco will be aiming to become the second tournament host after Gambia in 2005 to win on home soil.
· In their debut tournament as hosts in 2013, Morocco ended fourth. In their next appearance in 2019 they were eliminated in the group stages.
· Morocco ended as runners-up at the last edition in Algeria in 2023, losing to Senegal in the final. That was their best showing at the finals.
· Morocco’s record in their opening group game at the finals reads P3 W2 D1 L0.
· Morocco have scored seven goals across their three opening games at the TotalEnergies CAF U-17 AFCON. They have conceded two goals.
· Overall, Morocco’s group stage record at the CAF U-17 AFCON finals reads P9 W4 D2 L3.
· Morocco’s three biggest wins at the finals have all been by a three-goal margin, two of which came in the 2013 group stages, a 4-1 win over Gabon in their opening game and a 3-0 win over Botswana in their second group game. They also managed a 3-0 win against hosts Algeria in the quarterfinals in 2023.
· Morocco are coached by former Atlas Lions International Nabil Baha, who was appointed at their helm in September 2024.
· Baha is a French-born Moroccan international who represented the Atlas Lions 20 times, making his international debut on the 12th of February 2003 in an international friendly against Senegal.
· Baha has been in charge of the Moroccan U-17 national team for 17 games, his record in these games reads W7 D6 L3. Baha’s team are undefeated in their last five games, winning three games and drawing two.
· Morocco’s highest scoring at a single final was Younes Bnou Marzouk who scored 4 goals when they hosted the tournament in 2013.
UGANDA FACTS
· Uganda’s only previous finals appearance was in 2019, when their neighbours Tanzania were hosts.
· At the 2019 finals Uganda began with a 1-0 loss to Angola in Group A, they then defeated hosts Tanzania 3-0 and drew with Nigeria 1-1 in their final group game. They exited the tournament in the group stage.
· All four of Uganda’s goals at the 2019 finals were scored by different players, they are yet to have a player score multiple goals for them at the finals.
· Uganda qualified for the second finals by winning the CECAFA regional play-off. They began with a 1-1 draw against Tanzania in their first group game then defeated Keny 5-0 in their second group game. They managed to overcome Somalia 4-1 in the Semi-finals and defeated Tanzania in Kampala on the 27th of December 2024 in the final winning 2-1.
· James Bogere top scored for Uganda in the qualifiers, he scored 7 goals netting two hat-tricks in their 5-0 group stage win over Kenya and in their 4-1 Semi-final win over Somalia. He also scored their game-winner in their 2-1 win in the final against Tanzania.
· The Uganda U-17 team are coached by Brian Ssenyondo who assumed the helm in November 2024, three weeks before they began their qualifying campaign against Tanzania.
-CAF
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Five-time world champions, Golden Eaglets of Nigeria are absent as the Africa U-17 Nations Cup kicks off this Sunday in Morocco. The team failed to cut the regional WAFU -B elimination series and thus will also be absent when the FIFA U17 World Cup kicks off.
The CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Morocco 2025 kicks off this Sunday with a meeting between the host nation, Morocco and Uganda as 16 teams vie for the continental crown and a place at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup later this year.
The journey to a long national team career begins here for many of the continent’s top young talents, who will get a first taste of an international competition at the expanded tournament.
Morocco last staged the Under-17 continental finals in 2013 when Nigeria striker Kelechi Iheanacho was one of the stand-out performers, and there will be many players in the Class of 2025 who will hope to have similarly successful club and international careers.
There will be a record 10 places for Africa at the 48-team FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Qatar, an opportunity for the continent to showcase its outstanding emerging talent on the global stage.
This will include the eight quarter-finalists and two more teams decided via play-off matches between the sides that finish third in their pools in the group stages.
The tournament will sport a new trophy, with the concept behind the silverware being the ‘Journey Begins’. It features a road-like structure symbolizing the player’s path, integrated with the map of Africa to reflect continental pride and unity.
Four venues will play host to matches – El Bachir Stadium in Mohammedia, Larbi Zaouli Stadium and Berrechid Stadium, which are both in Casablanca, as well as the El Abdi Stadium in El Jadida.
Proceedings get underway at the El Bachir Stadium on Sunday when Morocco play East African champions Uganda in a 22h00 kick-off (local time / GMT).
The following day Tanzania take on Southern African champions Zambia to close off the opening round of Group A fixtures in a 14h00 kick-off.
Later in the afternoon, Casablanca’s Larbi Zaouli Stadium hosts a Group B clash between the last edition’s bronze medallists, Burkina Faso and two-time champions Cameroon at 17h00.
The last fixture of the day, which takes place at the same venue, sees 2015 runners-up South Africa facing off against champions of the 1997 edition Egypt in an exciting north versus south duel at 20h00.
Group C and D fixtures will take place on Tuesday, 1 April with the reigning champions Senegal headlining the matches.
They take on The Gambia at the El Abdi Stadium at 14h00, while Somalia, who are making their second appearance at the finals, face off against Tunisia at 17h00.
In Group D, Mali, who finished fourth in the last edition, take on tournament debutants Angola at 17h00, while former champions Cote d’Ivoire eye an opening victory against Central African Republic at 20h00.
For a full list of CAF AFCON Morocco 2025 Fixtures, Times and Venues – CLICK HERE
CAF U-17 CAF AFCON, Morocco 2025 Groups:
GROUP A: Morocco (Hosts), Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia
GROUP B: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, South Africa, Egypt
GROUP C: Senegal, Gambia, Somalia, Tunisia
GROUP D: Mali, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Central African Republic
-CAF
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The Final Draw for the CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Morocco 2025 will take place on Thursday in Cairo at 13h45 local time (11h45 GMT).
Former Mali international Adama Coulibaly and ex-Senegal star Souleymane Camara will act as draw assistants.
The expanded tournament will see 16 teams compete from 30 March – 19 April 2025, with a record 10 African nations to qualify for the 48-team 2025 FIFA Under-17 World Cup that will be staged in Qatar from 5-27 November 2025.
The qualified teams are: Morocco as hosts, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt and late entrants, The Gambia.
The others include: Mali, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa and Tanzania. Featuring also are Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia while two other teams representing the Central African Football Federations’ Union (UNIFFAC) will later join.
According to CAF, the teams will be divided into four groups (A, B, C and D), each consisting of four teams. Morocco, as the host country, is automatically preassigned to position A1 in Group A.The remainder of the seeds for each group have been determined via the final placings in the CAF Under-17 AFCON, Algeria 2023.
Holders Senegal take up position C1, Burkina Faso (third in 2023) are in position B1 and Mali (fourth in 2023) take position D1.
The top two teams in each group qualify for the quarter-finals, and the 2025 FIFA World Cup, before the competition continues in a knockout format.
The remaining two qualification places for African nations at the FIFA World Cup will be decided via play-off matches between the teams that finish third in their groups.
Tournament procedures
The draw will be made using four separate pots. The other 12 teams outside of the four seeded sides will be in Pot 1:
- Pot 1: Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gambia, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, UNIFFAC 1, UNIFFAC 2, Zambia
- Pot 2: Positions A2, B2, C2 & D2
- Pot 3: Positions A3, B3, C3 & D3
- Pot 4: Positions A4, B4, C4 & D4
The teams will be drawn to the positions A2, B2, C2, D2, A3, B3, C3, D3, A4, B4, C4, & D4.
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The Confederation of African Football has clarified that next year’s Africa U17 Cup of Nations will still have 12 finalists in attendance, as against the minimum of 16 teams being projected by African football enthusiasts.
This means that despite defeating host nation Ghana in Tuesday’s third-place match of the WAFU B U17 Championship, the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria have not qualified for the finals.
“The final tournament will still have 12 teams,” CAF’s Director of Competitions, Samson Adamu, told thenff.com.
Expectations had been high among African football aficionados that the 2025 Africa U17 Cup of Nations would be expanded, following FIFA’s allocation, at its Congress in Bangkok, penultimate week, of 10 slots to the continent for the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup that Qatar has been designated to host.
Qatar will host five consecutive FIFA U17 World Cup finals beginning next year, each having 48 teams in attendance.
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CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off with Morocco-Uganda opener
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