2017 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations

The 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, officially known as the Total U-17 Africa Cup Of Nations, Gabon 2017,^[1] was the 12th edition of the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations (17th edition if tournaments without hosts are included), the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for players aged 17 and below.

2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations

Coupe d'Afrique des nations des moins de 17 ans 2017
Tournament details
Host country	Gabon
Dates	14–28 May
Teams	8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Mali (2nd title)
Runners-up	Ghana
Third place	Guinea
Fourth place	Niger
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	41 (2.56 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Fandjé Touré (6 goals)
← 2015 2019 →

The top four teams qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.

Host selection

The tournament was originally set to take place in Madagascar between 2–16 April 2017.^[2] However, the CAF Executive Committee decided on 12 January 2017 to withdraw the hosting rights from Madagascar following the reports of the CAF inspection teams.^[3]

On 3 February 2017, Gabon were selected as the new hosts,^[4] and the tournament will now be played from 14 to 28 May 2017 (originally from 21 May to 4 June 2017).^[5][6]

Qualification

Main article: 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations qualification

The qualifiers were played between June and October 2016. At the end of the qualification phase, seven teams joined the hosts Gabon.

Player eligibility

Players born 1 January 2000 or later are eligible to participate in the competition.

Qualified teams

Gabon replaced Madagascar due to their selection as the new hosts. Moreover, Tanzania replaced Congo due to a Congolese player failing to turn up for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test.^[5] Mali were cleared to compete after their suspension was lifted by FIFA on 28 April 2017.^[7]

Note: All appearance statistics count only those since the introduction of final tournament in 1995.

Team	Appearance	Previous best appearance
Angola	3rd	Group stage (1997, 1999)
Cameroon	6th	Champions (2003)
Gabon (hosts)	3rd	Group stage (2007, 2013)
Ghana	7th	Champions (1995, 1999)
Guinea	6th	Third place (1995, 2015)
Mali	8th	Champions (2015)
Niger	2nd	Group stage (2015)
Tanzania	1st	Debut

Venues

The two venues were confirmed in March 2017.^[6]

Libreville	Libreville Port-Gentil	Port-Gentil
Stade de l'Amitié		Stade de Port-Gentil
Capacity: 40,000		Capacity: 20,000
0.524167°N 9.397778°E / 0.524167; 9.397778 (Stade de l'Amitié)		0.716667°S 8.783333°E / -0.716667; 8.783333 (Stade de Port Gentil)

Original venues of Madagascar before hosts were withdrawn.

Stadium	City	Capacity
Mahamasina Stadium	Antananarivo	22,000
Vontovorona Sport Complex	Vontovorona	?

Draw

The draw for the tournament took place on 24 October 2016, 11:00 local time (UTC+2) at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo.^[8][9][10]

The teams were seeded based on the results of the last edition (final tournament and qualifiers).^[11]

Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
Gabon (replaced  Madagascar after draw) (host, assigned to A1)  Mali (2015 winner, assigned to B1)	Guinea  Niger	Cameroon  Angola	Ghana  Tanzania (replaced  Congo after draw)

Squads

Further information: 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations squads

Each squad can contain a maximum of 21 players.^[12]

Match officials

A total of 14 referees and 15 assistant referees were selected for the tournament.^[13][14]

Referees	Mohamed Maarouf Eid Souleiman Ahmed Djamal Ferdinand Udoh Aniete Mustapha Ghorbal Mihindou Mbina Gauthier Abou Coulibaly Hamada Nampiandraza Pacifique Ndabihawenimana Davies Ogenche Omweno Hassan Mohamed Hagi Maguette Ndiaye Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo
Reserve Referees	Haithem Kossai Daniel Nii Ayi Laryea
Assistant Referees	Mahmoud Abouelregal Aymen Ismail Seydou Tiama Moussounda Montel Souru Phatsoane Gilbert Lista Gbèmassiandan Kouton Arsénio Marengula Lahcen Azgaou Abdoul Aziz Moctar Saley Mamady Tere Frank John Komba Temesgin Samuel Atango Soulaimane Amaldine
Reserve Assistant Referee	Attia Amsaad[15]

Group stage

The group winners and runners-up advance to the semi-finals and qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:^[12]

1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
4. If, after applying criteria 1 to 3 to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 7 apply;
5. Goal difference in all games;
6. Goals scored in all games;
7. Drawing of lots.

All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ghana	3	2	1	0	9	0	+9	7	Knockout stage and 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2	Guinea	3	1	2	0	6	2	+4	5
3	Cameroon	3	1	1	1	2	5	−3	4
4	Gabon (H)	3	0	0	3	1	11	−10	0

Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

14 May 2017 (2017-05-14)

15:30

Gabon	1–5	Guinea
Moubeti 70'	Report	Touré 7', 38', 69' Bah 30' A. Camara 45+1'

Stade de Port-Gentil, Port-Gentil

Referee: Davies Ogenche Omweno (Kenya)

14 May 2017 (2017-05-14)

18:30

Cameroon	0–4	Ghana
	Report	Ayiah 25', 64' Sulley 32', 34'

Stade de Port-Gentil, Port-Gentil

Referee: Mohamed Maarouf Eid (Egypt)

---

17 May 2017 (2017-05-17)

15:30

Guinea	1–1	Cameroon
Touré 22'	Report	Zobo 68'

Stade de Port-Gentil, Port-Gentil

Referee: Maguette Ndiaye (Senegal)

17 May 2017 (2017-05-17)

18:30

Ghana	5–0	Gabon
Ayiah 30', 57' Toku 34', 67' Arhin 76'	Report

Stade de Port-Gentil, Port-Gentil

Referee: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana (Burundi)

---

20 May 2017 (2017-05-20)

18:30

Gabon	0–1	Cameroon
	Report	Zobo 20'

Stade de Port-Gentil, Port-Gentil

Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

20 May 2017 (2017-05-20)

18:30

Guinea	0–0	Ghana
	Report

Stade de l'Amitié Sino-Gabonaise, Libreville

Referee: Hamada Nampiandraza (Madagascar)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mali	3	2	1	0	8	2	+6	7	Knockout stage and 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2	Niger	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
3	Tanzania	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
4	Angola	3	0	1	2	4	10	−6	1

Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

15 May 2017 (2017-05-15)

15:30

Mali	0–0	Tanzania
	Report

Stade de l'Amitié Sino-Gabonaise, Libreville

Referee: Ferdinand Udoh Aniete (Nigeria)

15 May 2017 (2017-05-15)

18:30

Angola	2–2	Niger
Melo 68' Gelson 84' (pen.)	Report	Sanda 29' (pen.), 42'

Stade de l'Amitié Sino-Gabonaise, Libreville

Referee: Mihindou Mbina Gauthier (Gabon)

---

18 May 2017 (2017-05-18)

15:30

Tanzania	2–1	Angola
Naftal 6' Suleiman 70'	Report	Tombé 18'

Stade de l'Amitié Sino-Gabonaise, Libreville

Referee: Abou Coulibaly (Ivory Coast)

18 May 2017 (2017-05-18)

18:30

Niger	1–2	Mali
Habibou 35'	Report	Dramé 6' M. Camara 44'

Stade de l'Amitié Sino-Gabonaise, Libreville

Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

---

21 May 2017 (2017-05-21)

18:30

Mali	6–1	Angola
S. Camara 2' Dramé 14', 72' N'Diaye 39', 70' Kané 81'	Report	Melo 83'

Stade de l'Amitié Sino-Gabonaise, Libreville

Referee: Hassan Mohamed Hagi (Somalia)

21 May 2017 (2017-05-21)

18:30

Tanzania	0–1	Niger
	Report	Marou 42'

Stade de Port-Gentil, Port-Gentil

Referee: Daniel Nii Ayi Laryea (Ghana)

Knockout stage

In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, kicks from the penalty mark are used to determine the winner (no extra time shall be played).^[12]

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	24 May – Port-Gentil
	Ghana (p)	0 (6)
					28 May – Libreville
	Niger	0 (5)
					Ghana	0
	24 May – Libreville
					Mali	1
	Mali (p)	0 (2)
	Guinea	0 (0)
					Third place
					28 May – Libreville
					Niger	1
					Guinea	3

Semi-finals

24 May 2017 (2017-05-24)

15:30

Ghana	0–0	Niger
	Report
Penalties
Owusu Acquah Iddriss Ayiah Osman Sulley Toku	6–5	Habibou Ajina Massamba Magagi Namata Souley Mossi

Stade de Port-Gentil, Port-Gentil

Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

---

24 May 2017 (2017-05-24)

18:30

Mali	0–0	Guinea
	Report
Penalties
Dramé M. Camara Konaté	2–0	I. Soumah Conté F. Soumah Touré

Stade de l'Amitié Sino-Gabonaise, Libreville

Referee: Davies Ogenche Omweno (Kenya)

Third place match

28 May 2017 (2017-05-28)

15:30

Niger	1–3	Guinea
Marou 66'	Report	Touré 55', 75' Bah 73'

Stade de l'Amitié Sino-Gabonaise, Libreville

Referee: Mihindou Mbina Gauthier (Gabon)

Final

28 May 2017 (2017-05-28)

18:30

Ghana	0–1	Mali
	Report	Samaké 22'

Stade de l'Amitié Sino-Gabonaise, Libreville

Referee: Hamada Nampiandraza (Madagascar)^[16]

Goalscorers

6 goals

• Djibril Touré

4 goals

• Eric Ayiah

3 goals

• Hadji Dramé

2 goals

• Melo
• Stéphane Zobo
• Ibrahim Sulley
• Emmanuel Toku
• Elhadj Bah
• Lassana N'Diaye
• Ibrahim Marou
• Abdoul Karim Sanda

1 goal

• Gelson
• Tombé
• Fahd Moubeti
• Patmos Arhin
• Aguibou Camara
• Mohamed Camara
• Semé Camara
• Ibrahim Kané
• Mamadou Samaké
• Sofiane Habibou
• Kelvin Naftal
• Abdul Suleiman

Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup

The following four teams from CAF qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.^[17][18][19]

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament1
Mali	21 May 2017	4 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2015)
Ghana	17 May 2017	8 (1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2007)
Guinea	20 May 2017	4 (1985, 1989, 1995, 2015)
Niger	21 May 2017	0 (Debut)

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.