Hosts Egypt are all set to kick off the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations against South Africa on 27 April at Cairo International Stadium.
The 17th edition of Africa’s flagship youth tournament will run until 18 May, featuring 13 nations competing across three venues in Cairo, Ismailia, and Suez, as the teams vie for a spot at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile 2025 that gets under way in September, continuing the continent’s proud tradition of global excellence in youth football.
The four semi-finalists will represent Africa in Chile.
The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) has announced the dates, kick-off times and venues for the group stage and knockout fixtures of the Under-20 Africa Cup.
The opening matchday is scheduled for Sunday 27 April with hosts Egypt playing South Africa at 9pm Cairo local time. Earlier that evening, Zambia face Sierra Leone at 6pm in Group A in Ismailia.
Nigeria and Kenya open Group B action at 6pm on 1 May at 30 June Stadium in Cairo, followed by Kenya vs Morocco at 9pm at the same venue. Senegal will begin their title defence against the Central African Republic in the opening Group C match on 2 May in Suez at 6pm before DR Congo take on Ghana at the same venue at 9pm.
The tournament will follow a three-group format. Group A contains five teams, while Groups B and C feature four teams each. The top two teams from each group, along with the two best third-placed teams, will progress to the quarter-finals, with the tournament concluding on 18 May.
The tournament has a long history dating back 46 years but started as a knockout competition to determine the qualifiers for what was then the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championships in Japan.
The first edition had 11 teams and was won by Algeria who defeated Guinea on the away goals rule following a 4-4 draw on aggregate. The first six editions were knockout competitions, before the first finals were played between six sides in Egypt in 1991. The hosts and Cote d’Ivoire contested the final, which was won 2-1 by the North African nation.
The finals have been staged every two years since then, and hosted all around the continent, including the likes of Mauritius (1993), Benin (2005), Zambia (2017), and Mauritania (2021).
Seven-time winners Nigeria have been the most successful nation in the competition, though three of those have come since it was staged with a single host. Ghana and Egypt have four wins each, with no other nation managing to lift the trophy more than once after that. Algeria (1979), Cameroon (1995), Morocco (1997), Angola (2001), Congo (2007), Zambia (2017), Mali (2019), and Senegal (2023) have all been previous winners.
The most appearances at the finals included Nigeria and hosts Egypt who will have each appeared at 19 tournaments when the 2025 edition is played. Cameroon have been involved in 16 tournaments, one more than Ghana, who are fourth on the list. There will be two debutants in the field for 2025, with Sierra Leone and Kenya both appearing for the first time. Tanzania will be making their second appearance having first qualified in 2021.
The CAF U-20 has delivered some great names throughout the history of the event. Many current top players have passed through the tournament: Premier League strikers Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest and Nigeria) and Patson Daka (Leicester City and Zambia), as well as Ligue 1 midfielders Krépin Diatta (Monaco and Senegal) and Lamine Camara (Monaco and Senegal) all played in recent tournaments.
Going further back, Baffour Gyan (Ghana), Emad Moteab (Egypt), Yaya Tourè (Côte d’Ivoire) and Benni McCarthy (South Africa) were also players who passed through the tournament.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 24 April, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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