The TotalEnergies Confederation of African Football (CAF) Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco will be held this year from 13 May to 2 June. The final draw was conducted earlier this month and produced a competitive group stage line-up.
The draw was concluded at CAF headquarters in Cairo. Current African stars Fiston Mayele (Pyramids FC and DR Congo), Aliou Dieng (Ahly and Mali) and Ahmed Belhadji (Ceramica Cleopatra and Morocco) assisted with the ceremony.
There will be a North African showdown after hosts and defending champions Morocco were drawn in Group A alongside Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia.
Former champions Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon headline Group B where they are joined by Uganda and debutants DR Congo.
Last year’s runners-up Mali are in Group C together with Southern African sides Angola and Mozambique, as well as East African representatives Tanzania. Senegal lead Group D which also features 2015 runners-up South Africa, Algeria and two-time winner Ghana.
With the tournament’s fixtures confirmed, CAF is to introduce a festival-style concept for the tournament. The new format includes bringing matches, training and team operations into one integrated setting for all participating teams.
All the matches, bar the opening, the semi-finals and the final, will be played at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat. And, according to CAF, the approach is designed to create a vibrant tournament atmosphere while enhancing operational efficiency, ensuring consistency in delivery and supporting long-term player development across multiple editions.
The eight quarter-finalists will automatically qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar 2026, while the teams that finish third in their groups will contest play-off matches to determine the final two qualification spots.
A total of 10 African nations will once again represent the continent at the global finals in Qatar in November this year. Qatar is hosting five consecutive annual editions of the tournament from 2025 to 2029, featuring an expanded 48-team format.
On the other hand, the race to qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, also to be held in Morocco this year, has also started, with 24 African nations entering the first round of qualifiers across the continent.
The tournament, scheduled to take place from 17 October to 7 November, will see five African teams, including the host nation, secure places at the global finals. With home-and-away ties spread over several days, teams aimed to gain early advantages in the first leg fixtures before decisive return matches which were held from 10 to 22 April.
Three teams — Liberia, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo — have already advanced to the next round following the withdrawal of Libya, Djibouti and the Central African Republic.
The road to the U-17 Women’s World Cup has now begun, and for many of these nations, it represents the first step towards competing on the world stage.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 30 April, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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