Uganda U-17 coach Brian Ssenyondo has vowed his side will bounce back from their disappointing 5-0 defeat to hosts Morocco at the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Cubs were handed a humbling loss in their opening group match, but Ssenyondo says the setback is not the end of the road as his team eyes qualification for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

“A false start is not the end of the race,” Ssenyondo said defiantly in the post-match press conference.

“It’s never easy facing the host nation, especially a side like Morocco, who are well ahead of us in the FIFA rankings. But we’re not here to make up the numbers.”

Ssenyondo remained calm despite the scoreline and insists Uganda will refocus for their next match against regional rivals Tanzania — a game that now carries do-or-die stakes.

“I firmly believe we will recover,” he added.

“I know my team, and I know what they are capable of. We will bounce back. I’ll give the boys tonight to process this loss, but tomorrow we go back to work.”

The coach emphasised that his players remain focused on their mission: to secure one of the coveted World Cup qualification spots and make history for Ugandan football.

“Despite this defeat, the boys are not discouraged,” Ssenyondo said.

“In fact, they are more motivated. They want to write history for their country. We know there will be no second chances. Champions are revealed when they’re up against the wall.”

Uganda’s next match against Tanzania will be more than just a group fixture.

It is a survival battle in the tournament, but also an opportunity for a young squad to show it has what it takes to join the continent’s elite at youth level.

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South Africa and Egypt will be meeting for the first time at the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Morocco 2025 when they open their Group B campaign at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca on Monday (kick-off 20h00 local time / GMT).

This meeting between South Africa and Egypt is one of three at CAF tournaments in 2025. They have also been paired together in the group stages of the TotalEnergies CAF U20 AFCON, which Egypt will host, as well as at the men’s senior TotalEnergies CAF AFCON in Morocco. 

Egypt U17 coach Ahmed El Kass featured 72 times for the Egyptian national team and scored 23 goals. He faced South Africa twice, losing one game and winning another. 

South Africa have played North African teams at the finals twice previously. They have not won either of these games (D1 L1), both of which have been group-stage meetings. In 2007 they drew 2-2 in their final pool game against Tunisia and in 2023 they began with a 2-0 loss to Morocco.

While this is Egypt’s first meeting against South Africa at the CAF U17 AFCON, they have met Southern African sides twice before, winning both games. On their way to the title in 1997 they defeated hosts Botswana 2-0 in their opening game. 

Egypt’s other game against a COSAFA member nation ended in a 1-0 win in their opening group fixture against hosts Eswatini in 2003.

In both their previous finals appearances in 1997 and 2003 when overcoming Southern African opponents in the group stages, Egypt progressed to the knockout rounds winning the title in 1997 and ending fourth in 2003.

SOUTH AFRICA FACTS
·       South Africa reached the quarter-finals at the last finals in Algeria in 2023, where they were defeated by eventual champions Senegal.

·       South Africa are participating for a fifth time at the U17 finals having first made their debut in 2005. They also qualified in 2007, 2015 and 2023.

·       South Africa have reached the knockout stage in three of their four previous finals appearances. In 2005 they ended fourth and in 2023 they reached the last eight. Their best performance was as runners-up in 2015. Their only group-stage elimination was in 2007.

·       South Africa’s record in their opening group game at the finals reads P4 W0 D2 L2.

·       In their opening group game in 2005, South Africa drew 2-2 against Nigeria, a game where they lead 2-0. In 2007 South Africa opened with a 2-0 loss to hosts Togo, while in 2015 they drew 2-2 against Cote d’ Ivoire, again letting a 2-0 lead slip, in 2023 they lost 2-0 to Morocco.

·       Of South Africa’s previous 12 group games at the finals they have won five – their second group games in 2005 and 2023 against Southern African rivals Zimbabwe (4-1) and Zambia (3-2). Their other group stage wins were a 1-0 triumph in their final pool fixture in 2005 against Cote d’ Ivoire, a 3-1 win against Gabon in their second group game in 2007, and a 3-1 win over Cameroon in 2015. 

·       Of their other seven group games, South Africa have lost three games to Togo in 2007, and Morocco and Nigeria in 2023. They have also drawn four group games.

·       All four of South Africa’s draws at the finals have been 2-2 stalemates. 

·       South Africa are coached by Vela Khumalo, who is a junior coach with Kaizer Chiefs. In the South African squad, eight players are from the Mamelodi Sundowns academy, followed by the Kaizer Chiefs academy who have five players, while Cape Town City have four players in the squad. All of their 21 players are domestically based.

EGYPT FACTS
·       Egypt are participating at the finals for a  fourth time after previous appearances in 1997, 2003 and 2011.

·       Egypt return to the continental finals after missing the last five editions. They last qualified in 2011 when Rwanda were hosts.

·       Egypt were winners when they made their finals debut in 1997. They were fourth in 2003 and were eliminated in the group stages in their last tournament appearance in 2011.

·       Egypt’s record in their opening group game at the finals reads P3 W3 D0 L0. In their previous opening games they have defeated Botswana 2-0 in 1997 and Eswatini 1-0 in 2003. They also won 2-1 against Senegal in 2011.

·       Egypt won their only title in Botswana in 1997, defeating Mali in the final 1-0. Egypt did not concede a goal en route to lifting the title, keeping five clean sheets.

·       In fact, Egypt did not concede a goal in their first eight games the finals through five games in 1997 and three games in 2003. They first conceded in their 2-1 semi-final loss to Cameroon in 2003.

·        In nine group games at the finals, Egypt’s record reads P9 W5 D2 L2.

·       Egypt’s 4-0 loss to Burkina Faso in their final group game in 2011 is their biggest loss at the finals. 

·       Egypt qualified for the finals by finishing top of the 2024 UNAF U17 qualifying tournament, which was held in Morocco in November last year.

·       Nine members of Egypt’s squad play their club football in the youth ranks of ENPPI, a further eight are in the youth ranks of Al Ahly.

·       Of Egypt’s 26 man squad, 24 players are based in Egypt. Only Youssef El Shabrawy of Portuguese club Braga and Mahmoud Shaker of Italian club Pro Vercelli are based outside of the country.   

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Burkina Faso and Cameroon open their Group B campaign at the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025 with a clash at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca on Monday (kick-off 17h00 local time / GMT).

This is the fourth meeting at the finals between the two sides. Of their previous three meetings at the finals, two games have ended drawn with Burkina Faso winning the other clash. All three of their previous clashes have been in the group stages.

Their first two matches in 1999 and 2001 both ended 1-1. Their last clash in 2023 saw Burkina Faso win 2-1 in their final group game.

When the teams have been paired before in the same group, Burkina Faso have progressed on all three previous occasions, while Cameroon have moved on in the tournament just once previously in 1999.

On all three previous occasions when Burkina Faso have faced Cameroon at the finals, they have ended in the top three, ending as runners up in 1999 and 2001, while they finished third in 2023.

BURKINA FASO FACTS
·      Burkina Faso competing at their eighth finals. Only Nigeria (10), Mali (10) and Cameroon (9) have qualified for more. They have beenchampions in 2011, and runners-up in back to back tournaments in 1999 and 2001.

·      They have only failed to progress beyond the group stages twice, in 2005 and 2007.

·      The Burkinabereached the final in their first two appearances in 1999 and 2001.

·      Third place finishers at the last finals in Algeria, despite losing their opening game against Mali in 2023, Burkina Faso recovered to defeat Cameroon 3-1 in their second group game, then defeated Nigeria in the quarter-finals. They lost to Senegal on penalties in the semi-finals, before defeating Mali in the play-off for third place.

·      Burkina Faso were the first country in tournament history to reach back-to-back finals, doing so in 1999 and 2001, when they ended as runners-up. The only other country to achieve this feat is Mali, who won back to back titles in 2015 and 2017.

·      They reached the final on their tournament debut in 1999 in Guinea, drawing their first two group games against Zimbabwe and Cameroon, before winning against hosts Guinea. In the last four they defeated Mali and lost to Ghana in the final.

·      They made it to the final in 2001 in the Seychelles, defeating Mali and Seychelles, and drawing with Cameroon in the group stage. In the last four they defeated Guinea 2-1 and in the final they lost 3-0 to Nigeria.

·      After final defeats in 1999 and 2001, they lifted the title at the third time of asking in Rwanda in 2011, despite an opening game loss to hosts Rwanda, they were able to defeat Senegal and Egypt 4-0 with Bertrand Traore scoring a brace to take them to the last four. Traore was on target in a 1-1 draw against Congo in the last four before they won on penalties. They defeated hosts Rwanda 2-1 in the final avenging their group stage loss.

·      Burkina Faso were bronze medallist in 2009, defeating Zimbabwe 5-0, Malawi 2-0 and Niger 1-0 to reach the last four and then lost to Algeria 1-0, before winning bronze medal defeating Malawi 3-2 in the play-off for third.

·      Making their eighth appearance at the finals, they have reached the knockout rounds in five previous tournaments in 1999, 2001, 2009, 2011 and 2023. They have only failed to progress beyond the group stages in 2005 and 2007.

·      Burkina Faso’s record in their opening group game at the finals reads P7 W2 D1 L4. They have won their opening game at the finals twice in 2001 a 1-0 win over Mali and in 2009 a 5-0 triumph over Zimbabwe.

·      They drew 0-0 with Zimbabwe in their first ever game at the tournament in 1999 the only occasion they opened up with a draw. They have lost their opening games in 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2023.

·      Their biggest loss in their opening game was a 3-1 defeat against Ghana in 2007, while in 2005 they lost 1-0 against Zambia and 1-0 against Mali in 2023.

·      Burkina Faso lost their opening game in 2011 against hosts Rwanda 2-1 but did manage to progress and went all the way to lift the title, they recovered to win their next two group games against Senegal 3-2 and Egypt 4-0.

·      Edouard Dambre is the only player in the Burkina Faso squad to be based outside of his home country, he plays in Qatar for Al Saad.

CAMEROON FACTS
·      Appearing in the tournament for a ninth time, they made their first appearance in Guinea in 1999. Only Nigeria (10) and Mali (10) have qualified for more finals than Cameroon (9). They are two times former winners in 2003 and 2019.

·      Cameroon’s record in their opening game at the finals reads P8 W2 D1 L5.

·      Cameroon have won their opening game at the tournament twice. In 2001 they recorded a 5-0 win over hosts Seychelles. They lost their opening game in four successive tournaments, in 2003 to Nigeria, in 2009 to Algeria, to Mali in 2015 and Ghana in 2017. They ended the barren run with a victory over Guinea in 2019 a 2-0 triumph as they would go onto win their second title. They lost their opening game at the last finals in Algeria against Mali losing 2-0.

·      Cameroon’s win over Guinea in their opening game in 2019 is their only win in their opening game in their last six tournament participations.

·      Despite losing their opening game in 2003 against Nigeria, Cameroon would recover and go onto lift the trophy, defeating Ethiopia 5-3 in their second group game. They rounded off their pool campaign with a 2-2 draw against Gambia, before defeating Egypt in the semi-finals 2-1 and Sierra Leone 1-0 in the final.

·      Cameroon have kicked off the tournament against teams from West Africa six times previously. Their record in such games reads W1 D1 L4.

·      Cameroon have faced teams from the WAFU region in 20 of their previous 28 games at the tournament. Their record in these games reads W2 D8 L10.

·      Cameroon lost their last two games against West African teams. They were defeated by Mali and Burkina Faso in their two group stage games in 2023.

·      In their last five tournament appearances they have managed to progress beyond the group stages just once in 2019, while they did not progress beyond the group phase in 2009, 2015, 2017 and 2023.

·      Will be looking to duplicate the performances of the senior Cameroon national team, the Indomitable Lions who were crowned African Champions when Morocco hosted the 1988 AFCON.

·      Cameroon made light work of qualifying through the UNNIFAC Zone, scoring 22 goals in their three qualifying matches while conceding a single goal.

·      Cameroon U17 coach Alioum Saidou is a former Indomitable Lions international who represented his country at the 2006 AFCON finals in Egypt, starting and finishing all four games as they were eliminated on penalties by Cote d’ Ivoire in the quarter-finals.

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