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 African youth football tournament organized by Confederation of African Football (CAF) for players aged 17 and below and the first to feature 12 teams in the group stage instead of 8.

2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations

كأس الأمم الإفريقية تحت 17 سنة 2023
Tournament details
Host country	Algeria
Dates	29 April – 19 May
Teams	12 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Senegal (1st title)
Runners-up	Morocco
Third place	Burkina Faso
Fourth place	Mali
Tournament statistics
Matches played	23
Goals scored	58 (2.52 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Amara Diouf (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Souleymane Alio
Best goalkeeper	Serigne Diouf
Fair play award	Morocco
← 2019 2021 2025 →

Algeria was chosen as hosts of this edition on 15 May 2021^[1][2][3][4] which it organized from 29 April to 19 May. All four semi-finalists 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 after losses to Burkina Faso and to Mali. Senegal won their inaugural title, defeating hosts of the cancelled 2021 edition Morocco 2–1 in the final.

Qualification

Main article: 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

The CAF decided on 20 July 2017 that the qualification format should be changed and split according to zones.^[5]

Player eligibility

Players born on 1 January 2006 or later were eligible to participate in this edition of the tournament.

Qualified teams

The following twelve teams qualified for the group stages. However, South Sudan was disqualified from this edition of the tournament after 5 of its players failed the MRI test.^[6]

Note: All appearance statistics count only those since the introduction of the group stages in 1995.

Team	Zone	Date of qualification	Appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
Algeria (hosts)	North Zone	17 May 2021	2nd	2009	Runners-up (2009)
Morocco		14 November 2022	3rd	2019	Fourth place (2013)
Nigeria	West B Zone	21 June 2022	10th	2019	Champions (2001, 2007)
Burkina Faso		21 June 2022	7th	2011	Champions (2011)
Senegal	West A Zone	7 October 2022	3rd	2019	Group stage (2011, 2019)
Mali		7 October 2022	9th	2017	Champions (2015, 2017)
Cameroon	Central Zone	15 January 2023	8th	2019	Champions (2003, 2019)
Congo		18 January 2023	3rd	2013	Third place (2011)
Somalia	Central-East Zone	12 October 2022	1st	None	Debut
South Sudan		12 October 2022	1st	None	Debut
South Africa	South Zone	9 December 2022	4th	2015	Runners-up (2015)
Zambia		9 December 2022	2nd	2015	Group stage (2015)

Venues

The Algerian Football Federation choose three venues in three cities across the host nation Algeria for hosting this edition of the competition: Algiers, Annaba and Constantine.^[7]

Algiers Annaba Constantine		Algiers	Annaba
		Nelson Mandela Stadium	19 May 1956 Stadium
		Capacity: 40,784	Capacity: 58,100
		Constantine
		Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium
		Capacity: 22,986

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

Further information: 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations squads

Draw

The group stage draw was conducted on 1 February 2023 at 12:00 WET (UTC±0) at the Cercle National de l'Armée in Algiers, the capital city of hosts Algeria.^[8] The 12 teams were drawn into 3 groups of 4 teams. As hosts, Algeria was seeded in Group A and allocated to position A1, while 2019 champions Cameroon was seeded in Group C and allocated to position C1 and 4th-place-finished team also from the 2019 edition Nigeria was seeded in Group B and allocated to position B1; the remaining nine teams were seeded based on their results in the previous valid edition in 2019.^[9]

Seeded	Pot 1	Pot 2
Algeria (hosts) (A1)  Nigeria (B1)  Cameroon (C1)	Morocco  Senegal  Mali	Congo  Somalia  South Africa  Zambia  Burkina Faso  South Sudan

Group stage

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to the three points for a win (3 for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 or none for a loss) and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 13):^[10]

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. 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;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Drawing of lots.

All times are local, WAT and CET (UTC+1).^[11]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Senegal	3	3	0	0	7	0	+7	9	Knockout stage
2	Algeria (H)	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	4
3	Congo	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
4	Somalia	3	0	1	2	1	6	−5	1

Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Algeria	2–0	Somalia
Anatouf 22', 52'	Report

29 April 2023 (2023-04-29)

20:00

Nelson Mandela Stadium, Algiers

Referee: Patrice Mebiame (Gabon)

Senegal	1–0	Congo
Fallou Diouf 78'	Report

30 April 2023 (2023-04-30)

14:00

Nelson Mandela Stadium Algiers

Referee: Akhona Makalima (South Africa)

---

Algeria	0–3	Senegal
	Report	A. Diouf 45+4', 61' (pen.) Savane 86'

2 May 2023 (2023-05-02)

17:00

Nelson Mandela Stadium, Algiers

Referee: Jelly Chavane (South Africa)

Congo	1–1	Somalia
Nzouzi 58'	Report	Diini 32'

2 May 2023 (2023-05-02)

20:00

Nelson Mandela Stadium, Algiers

Referee: Vincentia Amédomé (Togo)

---

Congo	1–1	Algeria
Ndzoukou 67'	Report	Anatouf 74'

5 May 2023 (2023-05-05)

20:00

Nelson Mandela Stadium, Algiers

Referee: Abdulsalam Kasim (Nigeria)

Somalia	0–3	Senegal
	Report	Said 8' (o.g.) A. Diouf 33' Diémé 88' (pen.)

5 May 2023 (2023-05-05)

20:00

Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium, Constantine

Referee: Soro Tuonifere (Ivory Coast)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Morocco	3	2	0	1	4	2	+2	6	Knockout stage
2	Nigeria	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
3	South Africa	3	1	0	2	5	7	−2	3
4	Zambia	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3

Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Nigeria	1–0	Zambia
Daniel 76'	Report

30 April 2023 (2023-04-30)

17:00

Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium, Constantine

Referee: Youcef Gamouh (Algeria)

Morocco	2–0	South Africa
Ait Boudlal 73' (pen.) Hanin 83'	Report

30 April 2023 (2023-04-30)

20:00

Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium, Constantine

Referee: Adalbert Diouf (Senegal)

---

Nigeria	0–1	Morocco
	Report	Maâli 2'

3 May 2023 (2023-05-03)

17:00

Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium, Constantine

Referee: Ousmane Diakaté (Mali)

South Africa	3–2	Zambia
Mkhawana 12', 31' Dokunmu 76'	Report	Mwanza 45', 48'

3 May 2023 (2023-05-03)

20:00

Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium, Constantine

Referee: Muhammad Elmabrouk (Libya)

---

South Africa	2–3	Nigeria
Mkhawana 6' Mabena 45+3'	Report	Agada 34' Eke 46' Abdullahi 65'

6 May 2023 (2023-05-06)

20:00

Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium, Constantine

Referee: Nyagrowa Dickens (Kenya)

Zambia	2–1	Morocco
Malaya 73' Mwanza 88' (pen.)	Report	Ouazane 19'

6 May 2023 (2023-05-06)

20:00

19 May 1956 Stadium, Annaba

Referee: Merveil Mandekouzou Vendafara (Central Africa Republic)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mali	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3	6	Knockout stage
2	Burkina Faso	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
3	Cameroon	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	0
4	South Sudan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Disqualified

Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Cameroon	Cancelled	South Sudan

1 May 2023 (2023-05-01)

17:00

19 May 1956 Stadium, Annaba

Mali	1–0	Burkina Faso
M. Doumbia 26'	Report

1 May 2023 (2023-05-01)

20:00

19 May 1956 Stadium, Annaba

Referee: Abdulsalam Kasim (Nigeria)

---

Cameroon	0–2	Mali
	Report	Barry 86' M. Doumbia 90+5'

4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)

17:00

19 May 1956 Stadium, Annaba

Referee: Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco)

Burkina Faso	Cancelled	South Sudan

4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)

20:00

19 May 1956 Stadium, Annaba

---

Burkina Faso	2–1	Cameroon
S. Alio 76', 79'	Report	Yondjio 62'

7 May 2023 (2023-05-07)

20:00

19 May 1956 Stadium, Annaba

Referee: Mustapha Kech Chaf (Morocco)

South Sudan	Cancelled	Mali

7 May 2023 (2023-05-07)

20:00

Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium, Constantine

Ranking of third-placed teams

With South Sudan's disqualification, rankings against the fourth-placed team of group A and B were not counted.

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	A	Congo	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1	Knockout stage
2	B	South Africa	2	0	0	2	2	5	−3	0
3	C	Cameroon	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	0

Source: CAF

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	10 May – Algiers
	Senegal	5
					14 May – Annaba
	South Africa	0
					Senegal (p)	1 (5)
	11 May – Algiers
					Burkina Faso	1 (4)
	Nigeria	1
									19 May –Algiers
	Burkina Faso	2
									Senegal	2
	10 May – Constantine
									Morocco	1
	Morocco	3
					14 May – Constantine
	Algeria	0
					Morocco (p)	0 (6)
	11 May – Annaba
					Mali	0 (5)			Third place
	Mali	3
									18 May – Annaba
	Congo	0
									Burkina Faso	2
									Mali	1

Quarter finals

Winners qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia.

Senegal	5–0	South Africa
Renecke 36' (o.g.) Wallis 39' (o.g.) Sadio 44' A. Diouf 54', 72'	Report

10 May 2023 (2023-05-10)

17:00

Nelson Mandela Stadium, Algiers

Referee: Patrice Mebiame (Gabon)

---

Morocco	3–0	Algeria
Ouazane 28', 57' Chakir 87'	Report

10 May 2023 (2023-05-10)

20:00

Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium, Constantine

Referee: Muhammad Elmabrouk (Libya)

---

Mali	3–0	Congo
Tia 7' M. Doumbia 31' Barry 56' (pen.)	Report

11 May 2023 (2023-05-11)

17:00

19 May 1956 Stadium, Annaba

Referee: Adalbert Diouf (Senegal)

---

Nigeria	1–2	Burkina Faso
Abdullahi 67'	Report	A. Camara 45', 57' (pen.)

11 May 2023 (2023-05-11)

20:00

Nelson Mandela Stadium, Algiers

Referee: Youcef Gamouh (Algeria)

Semi-finals

Senegal	1–1	Burkina Faso
A. Fall 16'	Report	Ouédraogo 83'
Penalties
Fallou Diouf Dorival Sow Savane A. Diouf	5–4	Ouédraogo Ouattara Soré Yaméogo S. Alio

14 May 2023 (2023-05-14)

17:00

19 May 1956 Stadium, Annaba

Referee: Muhammad Elmabrouk (Libya)

---

Morocco	0–0	Mali
	Report
Penalties
Radouane Maâli Bakhty Hamony Aït Boudlal Katiba El Motaouakkel Zahouani	6–5	Tia Simpara S. Koné Kanaté I. Diarra M. Doumbia Sanogo G. Koné

14 May 2023 (2023-05-14)

20:00

Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium, Constantine

Referee: Abdulsalam Kasim (Nigeria)

Third-place match

Burkina Faso	2–1	Mali
O. Camara 26' (pen.) Bougma 47'	Report	M. Doumbia 58'

18 May 2023 (2023-05-18)

20:00

19 May 1956 Stadium, Annaba

Referee: Youcef Gamouh (Algeria)

Final

Senegal	2–1	Morocco
Fallou Diouf 80' (pen.) Savane 83'	Report	Aït Boudlal 14'

19 May 2023 (2023-05-19)

22:00

Nelson Mandela Stadium, Algiers

Referee: Patrice Mebiame (Gabon)

Winners

2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations
Senegal First title

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:

Golden Boot[12]	Most Valuable Player[12]	Best Goalkeeper[12]	Coach of the Tournament[12]	Fair Play award[12]
Amara Diouf	Souleymane Alio	Serigne Diouf	Said Chiba	Morocco

• Best XI:^[13]

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Serigne Diouf	Lassina Traoré Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal Serigne Fallou Diouf Yahaya Lawali	Sékou Koné Abdou Aziz Fall Rachid Ouedraogo	Amara Diouf Souleymane Alio Mamadou Doumbia

Goalscorers

There were 58 goals scored in 23 matches, for an average of 2.52 goals per match.

5 goals

• Amara Diouf

4 goals

• Mamadou Doumbia

3 goals

• Moslem Anatouf
• Zakaria Ouazane
• Vicky Mkhawana
• Emmanuel Mwanza

2 goals

• Souleymane Alio
• Aboubacar Camara
• Mahamoud Barry
• Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal
• Abubakar Abdullahi
• Serigne Fallou Diouf
• Mamadou Savane

1 goal

• Appolinaire Bougma
• Ousmane Camara
• Rachide Ouédraogo
• Matah Yondjio
• Joseph Ndzoukou
• Wumba Nzouzi
• Ange Martial Tia
• Adam Chakir
• Adam Hanin
• Abdelhamid Maâli
• Charles Agada
• Favour Daniel
• Light Eke
• Yaya Diémé
• Abdou Aziz Fall
• Mamadou Sadio
• Diini Mohamed
• Michael Dokunmu
• Siyabonga Mabena
• Samson Malaya

1 own goal

• Said Mohamed (against Senegal)
• Waylon Renecke (against Senegal)
• Benjamin Wallis (against Senegal)

Qualified teams for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup

The following teams from CAF qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia.

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA U-17 World Cup1
Senegal	10 May 2023	1 (2019)
Morocco	10 May 2023	1 (2013)
Mali	11 May 2023	5 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2015, 2017)
Burkina Faso	11 May 2023	4 (1999, 2001, 2009, 2011)

¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

See also

• 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations

References

1. "🟧 CAF Executive Committee Media Statement". CAFOnline.com. 15 May 2021. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2022. TOTAL CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations 2023: Algeria
2. "L'Algérie organisera l'édition 2023" [Foot / CAN U17: Algeria will organize the 2023 edition]. Le Soir d'Algerie (in French). 15 May 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
3. "La CAF confie au Algérie l'organisation de la CAN U17 en 2023" [CAF: CAN U17 in Algeria, CAN U20 en Egypt]. Afrik Foot (in French). 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
4. "U17 AFCON: Algeria to host the 2023 edition". Sport News Africa. 17 May 2021. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
5. "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee – 20 July 2017". CAFOnline.com. 20 July 2017. Archived from the original on 22 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2019. The Committee decided to organize zonal qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations for the youth categories (U-17, U-20, U-23), with the flexibility offered to each zone to propose a formula. The committee also resolved to strengthen medical checks in determining the eligibility of players.
6. Ninrew, Chany (30 April 2023). "South Sudan U17 disqualified in AFCON over age test". South Sudan Eye Radio. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
7. "TotalEnergies U-17 AFCON Algeria 2023 full fixtures released". CAFOnline.com. 2 February 2023. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
8. "TotalEnergies U-17 AFCON draw to be conducted on Wednesday 01 February". CAFOnline.com. 25 January 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
9. "TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations Algeria 2023 Draw Procedure" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 24 January 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
10. "U-17 AFCON Regulations" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
11. "Algeria 2023 Fixtures U17" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 2 February 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
12. "Burkina Faso's Alio named TotalEnergies U17 AFCON MVP". CAFOnline.com. 20 May 2023. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
13. "Senegal's dominance shines in TotalEnergies U17 AFCON Best XI". CAFOnline.com. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.

External links

• Official home of the 2023 edition (archived) at CAFOnline.com
• U-17 Africa Cup of Nations 2023 Live Streaming & TV Channels, 20 April 2023
• The African Dream - CAN -17 closing ceremony on YouTube