2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations

The 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (Arabic: كأس أمم إفريقيا تحت 20 سنة 2023, French: Coupe d'Afrique des nations de football des moins de 20 ans 2023), known as the 2023 U20 AFCON or 2023 AFCON U20 for short and as the 2023 TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, was the 17th edition (24th if editions of the tournament without hosts are included) of the biennial African international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football. Egypt hosted the tournament, which took place from 19 February to 11 March 2023. The tournament involved 12 teams, Senegal won the tournament for the first time, defeating Gambia in the final and did not concede a single goal the entire tournament.^[5]

2023 CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations

كأس أمم إفريقيا تحت 20 سنة 2023
Tournament details
Host country	Egypt
Dates	19 February – 11 March
Teams	12 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Senegal (1st title)
Runners-up	Gambia
Third place	Nigeria
Fourth place	Tunisia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	26
Goals scored	54 (2.08 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Pape Diop (5 goals)[1]
Best player(s)	Lamine Camara[2]
Best goalkeeper	Landing Badji[3]
Fair play award	Nigeria[4]
← 2021 2025 →

This edition of the tournament also doubles as the African qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina where teams who reached the semi-finals stage qualified automatically and also for the 2023 African Games in Accra, Ghana where teams who reached the quarter-finals stage qualified automatically too.

Ghana were the defending champions following their 4th title win in 2021, but failed to qualify for this edition after losing to Nigeria in the WAFU sub-regional qualification tournament.^[6][7]

Qualification

Main article: 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Player eligibility

Players born 1 January 2003 or later are eligible to participate in the competition.

Qualified teams

The following 12 teams qualified for the group stages:

All appearance statistics count only those since the introduction of the full host-nation tournament in 1991.

Team	Zone	Date of qualification	Appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
Egypt (hosts)	North Zone	16 May 2021	12th	2017	Champions (1991, 2003, 2013)
Tunisia		24 October 2022	2nd	2021	Fourth place (2021)
Benin	West B Zone	17 May 2022	3rd	2013	Third place (2005)
Nigeria		17 May 2022	12th	2019	Champions (2005, 2011, 2015)
Senegal	West A Zone	9 September 2022	6th	2019	Runners-up (2015, 2017, 2019)
Gambia		9 September 2022	4th	2021	Third place (2007, 2021)
Central African Republic	Central Zone	14 December 2022	2nd	2021	Quarter-finals (2021)
Congo		14 December 2022	3rd	2015	Champions (2007)
Uganda	Central-East Zone	8 November 2022	2nd	2021	Runners-up (2021)
South Sudan		8 November 2022	1st	None	Debut
Mozambique	South Zone	14 October 2022	2nd	2021	Group stage (2021)
Zambia		14 October 2022	8th	2017	Champions (2017)

Venues

Cairo Alexandria Ismailia		Cairo	Ismailia
		Cairo International Stadium	Suez Canal Stadium
		Capacity: 75,000	Capacity: 22,000
		Alexandria
		Haras El Hodoud Stadium[8]	Alexandria Stadium
		Capacity: 22,000	Capacity: 20,000

Match officials

On 18 February 2023, CAF announced a total of 16 referees (including 2 women), 18 assistant referees (including 4 women) and 6 video assistant referees (VAR) appointed for the tournament.^[9][10]

Referees

• Issa Mouhamed
• Hamidou Diero
• Mohamed Athoumani
• Yannick Kabanga Malala
• Clement Franklin Kpan
• Mohamed Diraneh Guedi
• Mahmoud Ahmed Nagy
• Lamin Jammeh
• Ahmed Abdulrazg
• Sory Ibrahima Keita
• Jallal Jayed
• Bouchra Karboubi
• Omar Abdulkadir Artan
• Jean-Claude Ishimwe
• El Hadj Amadou Sy
• Akhona Makalima

Assistant referees

• Hamza Bouzit
• Pascal Ndimunzigo
• Styven Moutsassi
• Yara Atef
• Mohamed Abouzid Sami Halhal
• Yehualashet Fasika Biru
• Roland Nii Dodoo
• Joel Wonka Doe
• Dimbiniaina Andriatianarivelo
• Fanta Idrissa Kone
• Fatiha Jermoumi
• Soukaina Hamdi
• Abdoul Aziz Moctar Saley
• Igho Hope
• Shaji Padayachy
• Omer Hamid Mohamed Ahmed
• Jonathan Ahonto Koffi
• Mohamed Bakir

Video assistant referees

• Elvis Noupoue
• Mahmoud Ashour
• Ahmed Elghandour
• Daniel Nii Laryea
• Dahane Beida
• El Hadj Malick Samba

Squads

Further information: 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations squads

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held at CAF's headquarters in Cairo, Egypt on 23 December 2022 at 19:00 EST (UTC+2).^[11] The 12 teams were drawn into 3 groups of 4 with the teams seeded according to their performance in the previous edition of the tournament. Hosts Egypt automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Egypt (hosts)  Uganda (2)  Gambia (3)	Tunisia (4)  Central African Republic (8)  Mozambique (11)	Nigeria (NR)  Zambia (NR)  Senegal (NR)  Benin (NR)  Congo (NR)  South Sudan (NR)

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advance to the quarter-finals along with the two best 3rd-placed teams.

Tiebreakers

Teams are ranked according to points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 13).^[12]

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. 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;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Drawing of lots.

All times are in EST (UTC+2).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Senegal	3	3	0	0	8	0	+8	9	Knockout stage
2	Nigeria	3	2	0	1	3	1	+2	6
3	Egypt (H)	3	0	1	2	0	5	−5	1[a]
4	Mozambique	3	0	1	2	0	5	−5	1[a]

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

1. Drawing of lots: Egypt 1; Mozambique 2

19 February 2023 (2023-02-19)

16:00

Egypt	0–0	Mozambique
	Report

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Omar Artan (Somalia)

19 February 2023 (2023-02-19)

19:00

Senegal	1–0	Nigeria
S. Faye 40'	Report

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Jalal Jayed (Morocco)

---

22 February 2023 (2023-02-22)

16:00

Mozambique	0–3	Senegal
	Report	P. Diallo 45+2', 85' P. Diop 53'

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Ahmed Abdulrazg (Libya)

22 February 2023 (2023-02-22)

19:00

Nigeria	1–0	Egypt
Agbalaka 71'	Report

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Jean-Claude Ishimwe (Rwanda)

---

25 February 2023 (2023-02-25)

19:00

Egypt	0–4	Senegal
	Report	P. Diop 59', 73', 76' I. Sané 69'

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Mohamed Athoumani (Comoros)

25 February 2023 (2023-02-25)

19:00

Mozambique	0–2	Nigeria
	Report	Lawal 33' Muhammad 41'

Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia

Referee: Yannick Kabanga Malala (DR Congo)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Uganda	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	5[a]	Knockout stage
2	Congo	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	5[a]
3	South Sudan	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
4	Central African Republic	3	0	1	2	1	3	−2	1

Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:

1. Drawing of lots: Uganda 1; Congo 2^[13]

20 February 2023 (2023-02-20)

16:00

Uganda	2–1	Central African Republic
Mugulusi 47' Dembe 74'	Report	Gbenou 90+5'

Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia

Referee: Akhona Makalima (South Africa)

20 February 2023 (2023-02-20)

19:00

South Sudan	1–2	Congo
America 83'	Report	Bassinga 45' Soussou 63' (pen.)

Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia

Referee: Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco)

---

23 February 2023 (2023-02-23)

16:00

Central African Republic	0–1	South Sudan
	Report	America 2' (pen.)

Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia

Referee: Clement Franklin Kpan (Ivory Coast)

23 February 2023 (2023-02-23)

19:00

Congo	2–2	Uganda
Loulendo 6' Mombouli 72'	Report	Ssematimba 11' Mayanja 33'

Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia

Referee: Lamin Jammeh (Gambia)

---

26 February 2023 (2023-02-26)

19:00

Uganda	0–0	South Sudan
	Report

Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia

Referee: Issa Mouhamed (Benin)

26 February 2023 (2023-02-26)

19:00

Central African Republic	0–0	Congo
	Report

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Hamidou Diero (Burkina Faso)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Gambia	3	3	0	0	4	0	+4	9	Knockout stage
2	Tunisia	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
3	Benin	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2
4	Zambia	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1

Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

21 February 2023 (2023-02-21)

16:00

Gambia	1–0	Tunisia
Saine 84'	Report

Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria

Referee: Mohamed Athoumani (Comoros)

21 February 2023 (2023-02-21)

19:00

Benin	1–1	Zambia
Aloko 57'	Report	Ng'ambi 60'

Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria

Referee: Mohamed Diraneh Guedi (Djibouti)

---

24 February 2023 (2023-02-24)

16:00

Tunisia	0–0	Benin
	Report

Haras El Hodoud Stadium, Alexandria

Referee: El Hadj Amadou Sy (Senegal)

24 February 2023 (2023-02-24)

19:00

Zambia	0–2	Gambia
	Report	Drammeh 63' Saine 81' (pen.)

Haras El Hodoud Stadium, Alexandria

Referee: Mahmoud Ahmed Nagy (Egypt)

---

27 February 2023 (2023-02-27)

19:00

Gambia	1–0	Benin
Ouorou 88' (o.g.)	Report

Haras El Hodoud Stadium, Alexandria

Referee: Sory Ibrahima Keita (Mali)

27 February 2023 (2023-02-27)

19:00

Tunisia	2–1	Zambia
Othman 31' Dhaoui 59'	Report	Mutandwa 58'

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Omar Artan (Somalia)

Ranking of third-placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B	South Sudan	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4	Knockout stage
2	C	Benin	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2
3	A	Egypt	3	0	1	2	0	5	−5	1

Source: CAF

Knockout stage

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	2 March – Cairo
	Senegal	1
					6 March – Suez
	Benin	0
					Senegal	3
	3 March – Cairo
					Tunisia	0
	Congo	3 (4)
									11 March – Cairo
	Tunisia (p)	3 (5)
									Senegal	2
	3 March – Alexandria
									Gambia	0
	Gambia	5
					6 March – Cairo
	South Sudan	0
					Gambia	1
	2 March – Suez
					Nigeria	0			Third place
	Uganda	0
									10 March – Cairo
	Nigeria	1
									Tunisia	0
									Nigeria	4

Quarter-finals

Winners qualify for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

2 March 2023 (2023-03-02)

16:00

Senegal	1–0	Benin
S. Diallo 51'	Report

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Jean-Claude Ishimwe (Rwanda)

---

2 March 2023 (2023-03-02)

19:00

Uganda	0–1	Nigeria
	Report	Juma 30' (o.g.)

Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia

Referee: Mahmoud Ahmed Nagy (Egypt)

---

3 March 2023 (2023-03-03)

16:00

Gambia	5–0	South Sudan
Bojang 7', 33', 47' Jarju 28' Bajo 70'	Report

Haras El Hodoud Stadium, Alexandria

Referee: Jalal Jayed (Morocco)

---

3 March 2023 (2023-03-03)

19:00

Congo	3–3 (a.e.t.)	Tunisia
Bassinga 24', 80', 102' (pen.)	Report	Othman 37' Chouchane 76' Saoudi 119'
Penalties
Moutou Bowamba Manouana Ngandziami Maniongui Loulendo Diambomba	4–5	Ghorbel Dhaoui Hmidi Chouchane Garreb Snana Abid

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Clement Franklin Kpan (Ivory Coast)

Semi-finals

6 March 2023 (2023-03-06)

16:00

Senegal	3–0	Tunisia
P. Diop 7' L. Camara 17', 52'	Report

Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia

Referee: Omar Artan (Somalia)

---

6 March 2023 (2023-03-06)

19:00

Gambia	1–0	Nigeria
Bojang 7'	Report

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Ahmed Abdulrazg (Libya)

Third place

10 March 2023 (2023-03-10)

16:00

Tunisia	0–4	Nigeria
	Report	Muhammad 9' Abdullahi 46' Sunday 48', 90'

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Mohamed Athoumani (Comoros)

Final

Main article: 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations final

11 March 2023 (2023-03-11)

19:00

Senegal	2–0	Gambia
S. Faye 6' M. Camara 56'	Report

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

Referee: Mahmoud Ahmed Nagy (Egypt)

Goalscorers

There were 54 goals scored in 26 matches, for an average of 2.08 goals per match.

5 goals

• Pape Diop

4 goals

• Déo Bassinga
• Adama Bojang

2 goals

• Alagie Saine
• Ibrahim Muhammad
• Jude Sunday
• Lamine Camara
• Pape Amadou Diallo
• Souleymane Faye
• Paul America
• Jibril Othman

1 goal

• Rodolfo Aloko
• Boris Gbenou
• Josna Loulendo
• Arnauvy Mombouli
• Prince Soussou
• Mahmodou Bajo
• Kajally Drammeh
• Moses Jarju
• Ahmed Abdullahi
• Solomon Agbalaka
• Samson Lawal
• Mamadou Lamine Camara
• Samba Diallo
• Ibou Sané
• Samy Chouchane
• Mohamed Dhaoui
• Ali Saoudi
• John Paul Dembe
• Saidi Mayanja
• Isma Mugulusi
• Titus Ssematimba
• Kingston Mutandwa
• Rickson N'gambi

1 own goal

• Tamimou Ouorou (against the Gambia)
• Ibrahim Juma (against Nigeria)

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:

Player of the Tournament
Lamine Camara[14]
Top Scorer
Pape Diop[15] (5 goals)
Best Goalkeeper
Landing Badji[16]
Best Coach
Malick Daf ( Senegal)
CAF Fair Play Team
Nigeria[17]

Team of the Tournament

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Landing Badji	Augustine Njoku Seydou Sano Alagie Saine Solomon Agbalaka	Pape Diop Lamine Camara Prince Soussou	Adama Bojang Deogracias Bassinga Rogers Mugisha

Qualified teams for the FIFA U-20 World Cup

The following teams from CAF qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina.^[18]

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA U-20 World Cup1
Senegal	2 March 2023	3 (2015, 2017, 2019)
Nigeria	2 March 2023	12 (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019)
Gambia	3 March 2023	1 (2007)
Tunisia	3 March 2023	2 (1977, 1985)

¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Qualified teams for the 2023 African Games

The following teams qualified for the 2023 African Games men's football tournament in Accra, Ghana.

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in African Games1
Ghana	Host nation	7 (1973, 1978, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019)
Nigeria	25 February 2023	7 (1973, 1978, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2015, 2019)
Senegal		5 (1987, 2003, 2011, 2015, 2019)
Congo	26 February 2023	4 (1965, 1973, 1995, 2015)
South Sudan		0 (debut)
Uganda		4 (1965, 1991, 1999, 2011)
Benin	27 February 2023	0 (debut)
Gambia		0 (debut)
Tunisia		3 (1987, 1991, 2007)

¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

See also

• 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations