2019 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations

2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations
كأس الأمم الأفريقية تحت 23 سنة 2019
Tournament details
Host country	Egypt
Dates	8–22 November[1]
Teams	8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Egypt (1st title)
Runners-up	Ivory Coast
Third place	South Africa
Fourth place	Ghana
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	35 (2.19 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Mostafa Mohamed; (4 goals)[2]
Best player(s)	Ramadan Sobhi[2]
Best goalkeeper	Mohamed Sobhy[2]
Fair play award	Egypt[2]

The 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations was the third edition of the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, the quadrennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the men's under-23 national teams of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt between 8 and 22 November 2019.

The tournament was initially scheduled to take place in Zambia, but they withdrew from hosting in July 2017.[3] Egypt was announced as the new host nation of the tournament by CAF on 23 September 2017.[4]

Same as previous editions, the tournament served as African qualifying for the Olympic football tournament, with the top three teams of the tournament qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympic men's football tournament in Japan.

Nigeria were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage. Egypt defeated Ivory Coast 2–1 at extra time in the final, winning the title for the first time in their history, while South Africa came third for the second times in a row after beating Ghana 6–5 on penalties after the match ended 2–2 in their third-place play-off match.[5][6]

Qualification

Egypt qualified automatically as hosts, while the remaining seven spots were determined by the qualifying rounds.

Qualified teams

The following eight teams qualified for the final tournament.

Team	Appearance	Previous best performance
Egypt (hosts)	3rd	Third place (2011)
Cameroon	1st	Debut
Ghana	1st	Debut
Ivory Coast	2nd	Group stage (2011)
Mali	2nd	Group stage (2015)
Nigeria	3rd	Champions (2015)
South Africa	3rd	Third place (2015)
Zambia	2nd	Group stage (2015)

Venues

The tournament used two venues, Cairo International Stadium and Al Salam Stadium, both in Cairo.

Cairo		Cairo
		Cairo International Stadium	Al Salam Stadium
		Capacity: 75,000	Capacity: 30,000

Squads

Each team had to register a squad of 21 players. Only players born on or after 1 January 1997 were eligible to compete in the tournament (Regulations Article 45).[7]

Draw

The draw of the final tournament was held on 2 October 2019, 19:00 CAT (UTC+2), at the Haramlek Palace of Montaza Complex in Alexandria.[8][9][10] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. The hosts Egypt were seeded in Group A (position A1), and the defending champions Nigeria were seeded in Group B (position B1). The remaining teams were allocated to two pots based on the results of the 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, and were drawn to the remaining positions in their group.[11][12]

Seeds	Pot 1	Pot 2
Egypt (position A1) Nigeria (position B1)	South Africa Mali	Zambia Ghana Ivory Coast Cameroon

Match officials

On 31 October 2019, CAF released the list of 12 referees and 13 assistant referees selected to oversee matches. This is the first time CAF appointed female match officials for the tournament.[13]

Regional Federation	Referees	Assistant Referees
UNAF	Lahlou Benbraham Mohamed Maarouf Slim Belkhouas	Youssef El Bosaty Fathia Jermoumi Khalil Hassani
WAFU-UFOA	Louis Houngnandande Boubou Traoré Daouda Guèye	Judicael Sanou Abdul Aziz Bollel Jawo Firmino Bassafim Abdoul Aziz Moctar Saley Samuel Pwadutakam
UNIFFAC	Pierre Atcho	Abelmiro dos Reis
CECAFA	Georges Gatogato Souleiman Ahmed Djama Salima Mukansanga	Dick Okello
COSAFA	Ali Mohamed Adelaide Andofetra Rakotojaona	Ivanildo Meirelles Lopes James Emile Diana Chikotesha

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

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 68):[7]

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, CAT (UTC+2).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Egypt (H)	3	3	0	0	6	3	+3	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Ghana	3	1	1	1	5	4	+1	4	Advance to knockout stage
3	Cameroon	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	Mali	3	0	0	3	0	4	−4	0

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

8 November 2019