The 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-17 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.
Players born 1 January 2002 or later were eligible to participate in the competition. A total of eight teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Tanzania who qualified automatically as hosts.[1]
Teams
In July 2017, the Confederation of African Football decided that the qualifying competition should be split into regional competitions.[2] To qualify, 49 of the 54 CAF members entered the qualifying tournament of their zone, including the hosts Tanzania, which also participated in qualification despite automatically qualified for the final tournament.[3]
Apart from the hosts, each of the six zones received one spot in the final tournament, and the zone of the defending champions received an additional spot. Since Mali won the 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, West A Zone received two spots.[4]
(Q): Automatically qualified for final tournament regardless of qualification results
Format
The qualification format is determined by each zone (Regulations Article 13).[6]
In case any qualification ties are played on a home-and-away two-legged basis: If the aggregate score is tied after the second leg, the away goals rule is applied, and if still tied, the penalty shoot-out (no extra time) is used to determine the winner.
In case any qualification groups are played on a round-robin basis: Teams are 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 are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:[6]
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.
In case any qualification matches are played on a knockout basis: The penalty shoot-out (no extra time) is used to decide the winner if necessary.
Schedule
The schedule of each qualifying zone is as follows.
The draw for the group stage was held on 30 July 2018.[11] The nine teams were drawn into three groups of three teams. The winners of each group and the best runners-up advanced to the semi-finals.
The WAFU-UFOA Zone B qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations were held in Niger between 2–15 September 2018.[15] It was originally to be hosted at Ghana, but a new host was appointed.[16] The matches were played at Niamey (Stade Général Seyni Kountché; Stade Municipal would originally also host matches).[17]
The draw for the group stage was held on 24 July 2018.[18] The seven teams were drawn into two groups, one of three teams and one of four teams. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
The UNIFFAC qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations were held in Equatorial Guinea between 3–12 August 2018.[20] It was originally to be hosted at DR Congo, but a new host was appointed.[21] The matches were played at Bata (Estadio de Bata and Estadio La Libertad) and Malabo (Estadio de Malabo).
The draw for the group stage was held on 30 July 2018.[23] The seven teams were drawn into two groups, one of four teams and one of three teams. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
Source: CAF Rules for classification: Group tiebreakers (D) Disqualified; (H) Hosts Notes:
^On 3 August 2018, São Tomé and Príncipe were disqualified from the tournament after it was found out with the help of the MRI tests that all the players of the team were born in 2001 and would have been overaged in 2019. CAF earlier announced in its regulations that all the players should have born on or after 1 January 2002.[24]
The CECAFA qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations were held in Tanzania between 11–26 August 2018.[25] The matches were played at Dar es Salaam (National Stadium and Chamazi Stadium).[26]
The draw for the group stage was held on 5 July 2018.[27] The ten teams were drawn into two groups of five teams. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
The draw for the group stage was held on 31 May 2018.[32] The twelve teams were drawn into three groups of four teams. The winners of each group and the best runners-up advanced to the semi-finals.
^ abGambia had only 1 substitute in their lineup as 7 of their players failed the MRI test. The referee stopped the match at the 62nd minute, the Gambians complaining that the lighting of the stadium was insufficient and had their only goalkeeper injured. The referee finished the match at the 62nd minute as Gambia was unable to continue. Mali qualified for the semi-final and since there were only 2 teams in the group after the withdrawal of Liberia, CAF announced that the team finishing 2nd in Group B was ineligible to be ranked in the table for the best 2nd place team.[13][14]
^ abKick-off of the match between Mauritania and Cape Verde was moved from 21:00 to 18:30, and the match between Cape Verde and Guinea was moved from 21:00 to 16:30, after the withdrawal of Liberia from Group B.
^Venue of the match between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast was moved from Stade Municipal to Stade Général Seyni Kountché after the disqualification of Benin.
^Kick-off of the match between Equatorial Guinea and Congo was moved from 19:00 to 16:00 after the disqualification of São Tomé and Príncipe.
^ abcdKick-off of the matches between Burundi and Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania, and Rwanda and Tanzania, were moved from 17:00 to 16:00, and the match between Burundi and Sudan was moved from 14:00 to 16:00, after the withdrawal of Somalia.
^ abKick-off of the matches between Uganda and Djibouti, was moved from 14:00 to 15:00, and the match between Ethiopia and Kenya was moved from 17:00 to 15:00 and venue moved from Chamazi Stadium to National Stadium, to ensure fairness for the final round of matches.
References
^ ab"CAF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE DECISIONS OF 26 MAY 2015". www.cafonline.com. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
^Football, CAF - Confederation of African. "CAF - News Center - News - NewsDetails". cafonline.com. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
^"DATES AND HOSTS OF THE ZONAL QUALIFIERS U17 AFCON, TANZANIA 2019" (PDF). CAF.
^"Historical Zonal U-17 AFCON qualifiers set for take off". CAF. 12 July 2018.
^"Football : Le Gabon forfait pour les éliminatoires de la CAN U17". gaboneco.com. 30 July 2018. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
^ ab"Regulations of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations" (PDF). CAFonline.com. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
^"Unaf : l'Algérie accueillera le tournoi des U-15 en avril 2018". algeriepatriotique.com. 29 November 2017.
^"RESULTAT DU TIRAGE AU SORT DU TOURNOI UNAF U17". faf.dz. 15 May 2018.
^"Sierra Leone to battle in WAFU U-17 tourney". Concord Times. 7 May 2018.
^"Tournoi qualificatif CAN U17 : le programme complet !". foot224.co. 2 August 2018.
^"Tournoi UFOA: Sénégal, G. Bissau et S. Leone dans le groupe A". igfm.sn. 30 July 2018.
^"UFOA A: Le Libéria, forfait, chamboule la compétition". africatopsports.com. 6 September 2018.
^"Coup d'envoi dans la zone UFOA A, déjà un match interrompu" (in French). afrik-foot.com. 10 September 2018.
^Cissouma, Alassane (9 September 2018). "La Gambie refuse le combat, le Mali se qualifie aux demi-finales" (in French). footmali.com.
^"Ghana set to host U-17 WAFU Cup in August". myjoyonline.com. 14 March 2018.
^"Ghana stripped off CAF U17 qualifying tournament". ghanaweb.com. 3 July 2018.
^"UFOA B U17: TOUT LE PROGRAMME DU TOURNOI QUALIFICATIF CAN U17". africatopsports.com. 25 July 2018.
^"Football: les poules de la Zone B UFOA pour les éliminatoires de la CAN U17 constituées". news.abidjan.net. 24 July 2018.
^"CAN U17 : Le Bénin disqualifié des éliminatoires". football365.fr. 3 September 2018.
^"Cameroon wins UNIFFAC U-17 championship". CAF. 15 April 2018.
^"CAN Tanzanie U17 : la RDC disqualifié comme pays hôte du tournoi zonal qualificatif". digitalcongo.net. 10 May 2018.
^"Calendario Oficial de los partidos de la CAN U17" (PDF). FEGUIFUT.
^"Sorteo del Torneo Clasificatorio de la CAN U17". FEGUIFUT. 30 July 2018.
^"LE CAMEROUN ET LA GUINÉE EQUATORIALE EN POSITION DE FORCE". CAF. 4 August 2018.
^"Burundi Postpones Cecafa U-17 Tourney To April 14". KT Press. 29 March 2018.
^"Ten countries set for the CAF U-17 Cecafa zonal qualifiers". kawowo.com. 17 July 2018.
^"CECAFA U17 pour Tanzanie 2019: Dates et tirage au sort dévoilés". africatopsports.com. 5 July 2018.
^"Caf keen of age cheating ahead of Nations Cup qualifiers". nation.co.ke. 11 August 2018.
^"Five tournaments to be staged in COSAFA region in 2018!". COSAFA. 27 February 2018.
^"COSAFA U17: Maurice connaît ses adversaires". lexpress.mu. 31 May 2018.