2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations

The 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (Arabic: كأس أمم إفريقيا تحت 20 سنة 2023, French: Coupe d'Afrique des nations de football des moins de 20 ans 2023), known as the 2023 U20 AFCON or 2023 AFCON U20 for short and as the 2023 TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, was the 17th edition (24th if editions of the tournament without hosts are included) of the biennial African international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football, currently hosted in Egypt from 19 February to 11 March 2023. Senegal won the tournament for the first time, defeating Gambia in the final and did not concede a single goal the entire tournament.[5]

2023 CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations
كأس أمم إفريقيا تحت 20 سنة 2023
Tournament details
Host countryEgypt
Dates19 February – 11 March
Teams12 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Senegal (1st title)
Runners-up Gambia
Third place Nigeria
Fourth place Tunisia
Tournament statistics
Matches played26
Goals scored54 (2.08 per match)
Top scorer(s)Senegal Pape Diop (5 goals)[1]
Best player(s)Senegal Lamine Camara[2]
Best goalkeeperSenegal Landing Badji[3]
Fair play award Nigeria[4]

This edition of the tournament also doubles as the African qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina where teams who reached the semi-finals stage qualified automatically.

Ghana were the defending champions following their 4th title win in 2021, but failed to qualify for this edition after losing to Nigeria in the WAFU sub-regional qualification tournament.[6][7]

Qualification
Main article: 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Player eligibility

Players born 1 January 2003 or later are eligible to participate in the competition.

Qualified teams

The following 12 teams qualified for the group stages:

Team Zone Date of qualification Appearance Last appearance Previous best performance
 Egypt (hosts)North Zone16 May 202112th2017Champions (1991, 2003, 2013)
 Tunisia24 October 20222nd2021Fourth place (2021)
 BeninWest B Zone17 May 20223rd2013Third place (2005)
 Nigeria17 May 202212th2019Champions (2005, 2011, 2015)
 SenegalWest A Zone9 September 20226th2019Runners-up (2015, 2017, 2019)
 Gambia9 September 20224th2021Third place (2007, 2021)
 Central African Republic　Central Zone14 December 20222nd2021Quarter-finals (2021)
 Congo　14 December 20223rd2015Champions (2007)
 Uganda　Central-East Zone8 November 20222nd2021Runners-up (2021)
 South Sudan　8 November 20221stNoneDebut
 Mozambique　South Zone14 October 20222nd2021Group stage (2021)
 Zambia　14 October 20228th2017Champions (2017)

Venues
Cairo Ismailia
Cairo International Stadium Suez Canal Stadium
Capacity: 75,000 Capacity: 22,000
Alexandria
Haras El Hodoud Stadium[8] Alexandria Stadium
Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 20,000

Match officials

On 18 February 2023, CAF announced a total of 16 referees (including 2 women), 18 assistant referees (including 4 women) and 6 video assistant referees (VAR) appointed for the tournament.[9][10]

Referees

  • Benin Issa Mouhamed
  • Burkina Faso Hamidou Diero
  • Comoros Mohamed Athoumani
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo Yannick Kabanga Malala
  • Ivory Coast Clement Franklin Kpan
  • Djibouti Mohamed Diraneh Guedi
  • Egypt Mahmoud Ahmed Nagy
  • The Gambia Lamin Jammeh
  • Libya Ahmed Abdulrazg
  • Mali Sory Ibrahima Keita
  • Morocco Jallal Jayed
  • Morocco Bouchra Karboubi
  • Somalia Omar Abdulkadir Artan
  • Rwanda Jean-Claude Ishimwe
  • Senegal El Hadj Amadou Sy
  • South Africa Akhona Makalima

Assistant referees

  • Algeria Hamza Bouzit
  • Burundi Pascal Ndimunzigo
  • Republic of the Congo Styven Moutsassi
  • Egypt Yara Atef
  • Egypt Mohamed Abouzid Sami Halhal
  • Ethiopia Yehualashet Fasika Biru
  • Ghana Roland Nii Dodoo
  • Liberia Joel Wonka Doe
  • Madagascar Dimbiniaina Andriatianarivelo
  • Mali Fanta Idrissa Kone
  • Morocco Fatiha Jermoumi
  • Morocco Soukaina Hamdi
  • Niger Abdoul Aziz Moctar Saley
  • Nigeria Igho Hope
  • Seychelles Shaji Padayachy
  • Sudan Omer Hamid Mohamed Ahmed
  • Togo Jonathan Ahonto Koffi
  • Tunisia Mohamed Bakir

Video assistant referees

  • Cameroon Elvis Noupoue
  • Egypt Mahmoud Ashour
  • Egypt Ahmed Elghandour
  • Ghana Daniel Nii Laryea
  • Mauritania Dahane Beida
  • Senegal El Hadj Malick Samba

Squads
Further information: 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations squads

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held at CAF's headquarters in Cairo, Egypt on 23 December 2022 at 19:00 EST (UTC+2).[11] The 12 teams were drawn into 3 groups of 4 with the teams seeded according to their performance in the previous edition of the tournament. Hosts Egypt automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3
  1.  Egypt (hosts)
  2.  Uganda (2)
  3.  Gambia (3)
  1.  Nigeria (NR)
  2.  Zambia (NR)
  3.  Senegal (NR)
  4.  Benin (NR)
  5.  Congo (NR)
  6.  South Sudan (NR)

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advance to the quarter-finals along with the two best 3rd-placed teams.

Tiebreakers

Teams are ranked according to points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 13).[12]

  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 in EST (UTC+2).

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Senegal 3 3 0 0 8 0 +8 9 Knockout stage
2  Nigeria 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 6
3  Egypt (H) 3 0 1 2 0 5 −5 1[lower-alpha 1]
4  Mozambique 3 0 1 2 0 5 −5 1[lower-alpha 1]
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. Drawing of lots: Egypt 1; Mozambique 2
Egypt 0–0 Mozambique
Report
Referee: Omar Artan (Somalia)
Senegal 1–0 Nigeria
  • S. Faye 40'
 Report
Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Referee: Jalal Jayed (Morocco)
Mozambique 0–3 Senegal
Report
Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Referee: Ahmed Abdulrazg (Libya)
Nigeria 1–0 Egypt
 Report
Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Referee: Jean-Claude Ishimwe (Rwanda)
Egypt 0–4 Senegal
Report
Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Referee: Mohamed Athoumani (Comoros)
Mozambique 0–2 Nigeria
Report
  • Lawal 33'
  • Muhammad 41'
Referee: Yannick Kabanga Malala (DR Congo)

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Uganda 3 1 2 0 4 3 +1 5[lower-alpha 1] Knockout stage
2  Congo 3 1 2 0 4 3 +1 5[lower-alpha 1]
3  South Sudan 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
4  Central African Republic 3 0 1 2 1 3 −2 1
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. Drawing of lots: Uganda 1; Congo 2[13]
Uganda 2–1 Central African Republic
 Report
  • Gbenou 90+5'
South Sudan 1–2 Congo
  • America 83'
 Report
Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia
Referee: Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco)
Central African Republic 0–1 South Sudan
Report
Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia
Referee: Clement Franklin Kpan (Ivory Coast)
Congo 2–2 Uganda
  • Loulendo 6'
  • Mombouli 72'
 Report
Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia
Referee: Lamin Jammeh (Gambia)
Uganda 0–0 South Sudan
Report
Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia
Referee: Issa Mouhamed (Benin)
Central African Republic 0–0 Congo
Report
Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Referee: Hamidou Diero (Burkina Faso)

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Gambia 3 3 0 0 4 0 +4 9 Knockout stage
2  Tunisia 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
3  Benin 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2
4  Zambia 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Gambia 1–0 Tunisia
  • Saine 84'
 Report
Referee: Mohamed Athoumani (Comoros)
Benin 1–1 Zambia
  • Aloko 57'
 Report
  • Ng'ambi 60'
Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria
Referee: Mohamed Diraneh Guedi (Djibouti)
Tunisia 0–0 Benin
Report
Referee: El Hadj Amadou Sy (Senegal)
Zambia 0–2 Gambia
Report
  • Drammeh 63'
  • Saine 81' (pen.)
Referee: Mahmoud Ahmed Nagy (Egypt)
Gambia 1–0 Benin
 Report
Referee: Sory Ibrahima Keita (Mali)
Tunisia 2–1 Zambia
 Report
  • Mutandwa 58'
Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Referee: Omar Artan (Somalia)

Ranking of third-placed teams
Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 B  South Sudan 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4 Knockout stage
2 C  Benin 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2
3 A  Egypt 3 0 1 2 0 5 −5 1
Source: CAF

Knockout stage
 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
2 March – Cairo
 
 
 Senegal1
 
6 March – Suez
 
 Benin0
 
 Senegal3
 
3 March – Cairo
 
 Tunisia0
 
 Congo3 (4)
 
11 March – Cairo
 
 Tunisia (p)3 (5)
 
 Senegal2
 
3 March – Alexandria
 
 Gambia0
 
 Gambia5
 
6 March – Cairo
 
 South Sudan0
 
 Gambia1
 
2 March – Suez
 
 Nigeria0 Third place
 
 Uganda0
 
10 March – Cairo
 
 Nigeria1
 
 Tunisia0
 
 
 Nigeria4
 

Quarter-finals

Winners qualify for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Senegal 1–0 Benin
 Report
Referee: Jean-Claude Ishimwe (Rwanda)
Uganda 0–1 Nigeria
Report
Referee: Mahmoud Ahmed Nagy (Egypt)
Gambia 5–0 South Sudan
  • Bojang 7', 33', 47'
  • Jarju 28'
  • Bajo 70'
 Report
Referee: Jalal Jayed (Morocco)
Congo 3–3 (a.e.t.) Tunisia
 Report
  • Othman 37'
  • Chouchane 76'
  • Saoudi 119'
Penalties
  • Moutou soccer ball with check mark
  • Bowamba soccer ball with check mark
  • Manouana soccer ball with red X
  • Ngandziami soccer ball with check mark
  • Maniongui soccer ball with check mark
  • Loulendo soccer ball with red X
  • Diambomba soccer ball with red X
 4–5
  • soccer ball with check mark Ghorbel
  • soccer ball with check mark Dhaoui
  • soccer ball with red X Hmidi
  • soccer ball with check mark Chouchane
  • soccer ball with check mark Garreb
  • soccer ball with red X Snana
  • soccer ball with check mark Abid
Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Referee: Clement Franklin Kpan (Ivory Coast)

Semi-finals
Senegal 3–0 Tunisia
 Report
Referee: Omar Artan (Somalia)
Gambia 1–0 Nigeria
  • Bojang 7'
 Report
Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Referee: Ahmed Abdulrazg (Libya)

Third place
Tunisia 0–4 Nigeria
Report
Referee: Mohamed Athoumani (Comoros)

Final
Main article: 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations final
Senegal 2–0 Gambia
 Report
Referee: Mahmoud Ahmed Nagy (Egypt)

Goalscorers

There were 54 goals scored in 26 matches, for an average of 2.08 goals per match.

5 goals

4 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

  • Benin Tamimou Ouorou (against the Gambia)
  • Uganda Ibrahim Juma (against Nigeria)

Awards

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

Player of the Tournament
Senegal Lamine Camara[14]
Top Scorer
Senegal Pape Diop[15]

(5 goals)

Best Goalkeeper
Senegal Landing Badji[16]
Best Coach
Senegal Malick Daf ( Senegal)
CAF Fair Play Team
 Nigeria[17]

Team of the Tournament
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Senegal Landing Badji

Qualified teams for the FIFA U-20 World Cup

The following teams from CAF qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina.[18]

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA U-20 World Cup1
 Senegal2 March 20233 (2015, 2017, 2019)
 Nigeria2 March 202312 (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019)
 Gambia3 March 20231 (2007)
 Tunisia3 March 20232 (1977, 1985)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

See also

References
  1. "Senegal U20 star Pape Diop scoops Umbro Golden Boot award". cafonline.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  2. "Camara named TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON best player". cafonline.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  3. "Senegal custodian Badji named TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON Best Goalkeeper". cafonline.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  4. "Nigeria win TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON Fair Play award". cafonline.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  5. "Central Africa Republic and Congo Brazzaville complete TotalEnergies U20 AFCON Egypt 2023 list". CAFOnline.com. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2023. The TotalEnergies U20 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2023 will be played between 19 February and 11 March 2023.
  6. "Nigeria trounce Ghana 2-0 in U20 AFCON qualifying tournament". Vanguard News Nigeria. 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  7. "Nigeria beat Ghana 2-0 in U20 AFCON qualifying tournament". Premium Times Nigeria. 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  8. "TotalEnergies AFCON U20 Organising Committee confirms Alexandria venue switch to Haras El Hodoud Stadium". CAFOnline.com. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  9. "List of match officials for TotalEnergies U20 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2023 announced". CAFOnline.com. 18 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  10. "LIST OF SELECTED REFEREES TO TOTALENERGIES U20 EGYPT 2022" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  11. "Watch LIVE: AFCON U20 draw here". CAFOnline.com. 26 October 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  12. "U-20 AFCON Regulations" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 20 October 2020. p. 27-29. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  13. "Uganda beats Congo to first place in Group B following drawing of lots". CAFOnline.com. 26 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  14. "Camara named TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON best player | Total U-20 Africa Cup of Nations 2023". CAFOnline.com. 11 March 2023. Archived from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  15. "Senegal U20 star Pape Diop scoops Umbro Golden Boot award | Total U-20 Africa Cup of Nations 2023". CAFOnline.com. Confedération Africaine du Football (CAF). 12 March 2023. Archived from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  16. "Senegal custodian Badji named TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON Best Goalkeeper | Total U-20 Africa Cup of Nations 2023". CAFOnline.com. Confedération Africaine du Football (CAF). 12 March 2023. Archived from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  17. "Nigeria win TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON Fair Play award | Total U-20 Africa Cup of Nations 2023". CAFOnline.com. Confedération Africaine du Football (CAF). 12 March 2023. Archived from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  18. "Tunisia, The Gambia join Nigeria and Senegal in qualifying for Indonesia 2023". FIFA. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
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