2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations final
The 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations final was a football match played between Senegal and The Gambia at the Cairo International Stadium in the capital city of Cairo, Egypt, on 11 March 2023 to determine the winners of the 17th edition of the biennial African international tournament for under-20 players.
![]() the Cairo International Stadium hosted the final | |||||||
Event | 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations | ||||||
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Date | 11 March 2023 | ||||||
Venue | Cairo International Stadium, Cairo | ||||||
Referee | Mahmoud Ahmed Nagy (Egypt) | ||||||
Weather |
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Senegal defeated The Gambia 2–0 to win the tournament.[2]
Venue
The final was held at the Cairo International Stadium in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo. Completed in 1960 and inaugurated on 23 July of the same year to mark 8 years since the 1952 Egyptian Revolution. With a capacity of 75,000 seats, it is programed to use Olympic-standard games.[3]
Background
The U-20 Africa Cup of Nations is the biennial African international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football for players under the age of 20. The 2023 edition of this tournament, colloquially referred to for short as the 2023 AFCON U20 or the 2023 U20 AFCON, is currently taking place in Egypt with this match concluding this edition of the tournament.
Route to the final
Senegal
Drawn in Group A, alongside Egypt, the hosts, Mozambique, and Nigeria, Senegal was looking forward to the tournament since they had been undefeated for over 2 years. Senegal’s opening game was against Nigeria, a tough opponent who were also looking forward to win. Senegal had managed to pull up a good fight and managed to defeat them 1-0 despite Nigeria having more of the ball. Souleymane Faye scored the opening and winning goal.[4] Senegal’s next opponent was Mozambique, who had just drew with Egypt. Senegal had won another clean sheet win, beating Mozambique 3-0. A stunning performance, goals from Pape Amadou Diallo, who had scored a brace, and Pape Diop. With two wins in their belts, Senegal had already qualified for the knouckout stages.[5] Their third and last opponent of the group stage was against the hosts, Egypt. Senegal had increased their performance yet again despite Egypt having a higher possession rate, winning 4-0. Pape Diop had scored a hat-trick followed with Ibou Sane scoring one. Senegal had token first place in Group A, conceding no goals, while condemning both Egypt and Mozambique to U-20 AFCON elimination.[6][7][8]
In the quarter-finals, the Senegalese had found themselves with Benin, who had qualified from rankings.[9] the match would had been scoreless throughout the first half. On the second half, Senegal was awarded a free kick. Lamine Camara had stood up to take the free kick, he shot the ball on target where Samba Diallo used his head to score the opening match. Benin had time to respond as it was only fifty minutes through the game, but we’re struggling to get past the Senegalese defenders. Senegal had defeated Benin 1-0, keeping their clean sheet streak and qualified to the semis.[10] In the semi-finals, Senegal had found themselves faced between Group C runner-up Tunisia. Pape Diop had scored an early goal, scoring in the seventh minute. His goal was shot from a long distance after Souleymane Basse had passed the ball to him for an assist. Just ten minutes later, Lamine Camara would score a goal, making it 2-0. Tunisian player Mohamed Derbali made a sloppy pass to their goal keeper, Raed Gazzeh, where Camara managed to get to the ball first and blast it into the goal. Senegal kept on making chance after chance and were guaranteed to score another goal. In the fifty-second minute, Camara would score another goal to make it a brace. Samba Diallo had tried to shoot the ball into the goal but was block, he would later get the rebound and shoot again, but Gazzeh would save it. The ball went towards Camara’s direction, where from there, he shot the goal inside the net. Senegal had booked themselves into the final for their fourth time.[11][12]
Senegal | Round | The Gambia | ||
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Opponents | Result | Group stage | Opponents | Result |
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1–0 | Match 1 | ![]() |
1–0 |
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0–3 | Match 2 | ![]() |
0–2 |
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0–4 | Match 3 | ![]() |
1–0 |
Group A winner | Final standings | Group C winner | ||
Opponents | Result | Knockout stage | Opponents | Result |
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1–0 | Quarter-finals | ![]() |
5–0 |
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3–0 | Semi-finals | ![]() |
1–0 |
Match
Details
Senegal ![]() | 2–0 | ![]() |
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Report |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Senegal
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Gambia
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Match rules
- 90 minutes.
- 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
- Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
- Maximum of twelve named substitutes.
- Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time.[note 1]
Notes
- Each team was given only three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.
References
- "March 11 Weather in Cairo". weather spark. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- "Senegal defeat Gambia to win TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON". CAF. Retrieved 11 March 2023
- "History". General Authority of the Cairo Stadium. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- "Senegal U20 1-0 Nigeria U20". CAF. Retrieved 19 February 2023
- "Pape Diallo stars as Senegal book place at U20 AFCON quarters". CAF. Retrieved February 22 2023
- "Egypt U20 0-4 Senegal U20". CAF. Retrieved 25 February 2023
- "Pape Diop scores hat-trick as Senegal eliminate Egypt". CAF. Retrieved February 25 2023
- "Nigeria beat Mozambique to reach TotalEnergies U20 AFCON quarter-finals". CAF. Retrieved February 25 2023
- "TotalEnergies AFCON U-20: Benin squeeze through despite losing to Gambia". CAF. Retrieved February 27 2023.
- "TotalEnergies AFCON U-20: Senegal edge Benin to reach semis". CAF. Retrieved March 2 2023”
- "TotalEnergies AFCON U-20: Senegal reach final after comfortable win over Tunisia". CAF. Retrieved March 6 2023.
- "'It was a collective victory' - Senegal U20 star Lamine Camara" CAF. Retrieved March 6 2023.