Morocco made a dream start to the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations with a resounding 5-0 victory over Uganda in the tournament’s opening match on Sunday night in Mohammedia. Had they made it six goals, the Moroccans would have spelt U-G-A-N-D-A!

Playing in front of their home fans at El Bachir Stadium, the hosts wasted no time asserting their dominance, scoring twice in the opening ten minutes and never looking back.

The emphatic result puts Morocco top of Group A, providing an early boost to their hopes of lifting the continental title.

With Ramadan drawing to a close and Eid al-Fitr just a day away, the atmosphere in the stadium was electric as supporters turned out in numbers to celebrate both faith and football.

“What better way to start the Eid celebrations than to support our young Lions of the Atlas,” said Amir, a local fan who attended with his family. “I brought my daughters and nephew — I knew they would make us proud!”

Morocco were ahead after just three minutes, thanks to Ilies Belmokhtar, before Driss Aït Chiekh doubled the lead in the 8th minute.

The early double lifted the crowd, who remained loud and energetic despite the late 22:00 kick-off.

The pressure from Morocco was relentless, and in the 23rd minute, they were awarded a penalty following a VAR review by Nigerien referee Sadou Ali Brahamou.

The spot-kick was calmly converted by Ziyad Baha Abedlahadj, the Real Betis forward, who was cheered on by chants of “Chebbka!” (meaning “the net”) from the crowd.

Belmokhtar returned to the scoresheet soon after with a solo effort, giving Morocco a 4-0 lead before half-time, having enjoyed 67% possession and converting four of their six first-half chances.

Uganda tried to regroup after the break, returning to the pitch early with renewed intent.

Simon Wanyama nearly pulled one back, only to be denied by an excellent save from Moroccan goalkeeper Chouaib Bellaarouch.

The Mohammed VI Academy keeper also frustrated efforts from Elvis Torach and Richard Okello, keeping his clean sheet intact with a string of fine saves.

As Uganda pushed forward in search of a consolation, they left gaps at the back. Morocco capitalised again in the 71st minute when Ziyad Baha pounced on a defensive error by Ashraf Lukyamuzi to make it five.

The score remained unchanged as Morocco wrapped up a comprehensive victory, sending an early warning to their Group A rivals.

With three points and a significant goal difference advantage, they now sit top of the group heading into the next round of fixtures.

For the Moroccan supporters, it was a perfect evening — combining the joy of football with the spirit of Eid.

 More importantly, it was a clear statement of intent from a team that has every ambition of going all the way in this year’s tournament.

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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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Tanzania and Zambia will clash for the first time at the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Morocco 2025 when they meet in a Group A clash in Mohammedia on Monday (kick-off 14h00 local time / GMT).

While Zambia are meeting East African opposition for the first time, Tanzania are facing Southern African opponents for the third tournament in a row.

In their two previous tournament appearances in 2017 and 2019, Tanzania faced a COSAFA opponents in the form of Angola in the group stages. They won 2-1 in 2017 and lost 4-2 in 2019.

TANZANIA FACTS
·      Tanzania are making their third appearance at the TotalEnergies U-17 AFCON finals. They first qualified in Gabon in 2017 and then returned as hosts in 2019.

·      Tanzania have exited the tournament at the group stage in both of their previous appearances.

·      Tanzania have never previously won their opening game at the finals. Their record in their opening game reads D1 L1.

·      In their debut appearance in 2017, Tanzania drew their first game against Mali 0-0, while as hosts in 2019 their opening game produced nine goals. Tanzania fell to a 5-4 defeat against Nigeria, scoring the same number of goals in that game as they have in their other five fixtures at the finals combined.

·      Tanzania are yet to progress beyond the group stages. Their overall record at the finals from six games reads W1 D1 L4.

·      Five of Tanzania’s six games have produced goals and a winner. Their only game not to produce goals and end in a draw was their opening fixture in 2017, a 0-0 draw against Mali.

·      Tanzania’s only win at the finals was in their second group game against Angola in 2017, a 2-1 win.

·      Tanzania have lost their last four games at the finals since defeating Angola. They lost their final group game against Niger in 2017 and all three group fixtures in 2019.

·      Tanzania progressed to the finals through the CECAFA qualifying tournament, where they ended as runners up to Uganda. They began with a 1-1 draw against hosts Uganda in their opening game and then defeated Kenya 1-0 to progress to the last four, where they defeated South Sudan 4-0, before losing 2-1 to Uganda in the final.

·      Tanzania scored 7 goals in the qualifiers with 7 different players finding the back of the net.

·      Tanzania’s squad are all domestically based and represents 14 different clubs, with just JKU Academy, Fountain Gate FC, Azam, Kilombere SNA and Tabora United having two representatives in the squad.

·      Tanzania are coached by Aggrey Morris, a former Tanzania international who made 32 appearances for his country between 2010 and 2019.

ZAMBIA FACTS
·      Zambia are making their third appearance at the finals after previous participations in 2015 and 2023.

·      Zambia are appearing in back to back finals for the first time but have been eliminated at the group stages in both their previous tournament appearances.

·      Zambia have lost both of their opening games at the finals, 1-0 against Guinea in 2015 and against Nigeria in 2023.

·      Zambia’s overall record at the finals reads P6 W2 D0 L4.

·      Zambia’s two victories at the finals came in their second group game in 2015 against Niger, a 2-1 win, and in their final group game against Morocco in 2023, also a 2-1 victory.

·      Zambia qualified for the finals after winning the 2024 COSAFA U-17 championship which took place in South Africa in December last year. They won all three of their group games defeating Namibia (8-0), Zimbabwe (5-1) and Eswatini (1-0). They defeated South Africa and Angola in the semifinals and final respectively, winning both games 2-1.

·      Abel Nyirongo was Zambia’s top scored in the qualifiers with 7 goals. He scored in four of their five games.  

·      Zambia coach Ian Bakala is a former Chipolopolo international who played 41 times for his country and appeared at three AFCON Finals, playing six games across the 2002, 2006 and 2008 editions.

·      All of Zambia’s squad are domestically based.

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