The U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, or simply U-23 AFCON or U-23 CAN, is the quadrennial African football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for its nations, consisting of players under 23 years of age, and was first held in 2011. It has been held every four years since its inauguration. Until 2028, the top three countries/nations qualified directly from every edition of this tournament for the football tournament of the Olympic Games; FIFA and the IOC approved a 12team men's tournament for 2028 and reduced the number of CAF entries to two.
Egypt, Gabon, Morocco and Nigeria are the most successful teams in this tournament with each winning a single title. Morocco and Egypt are the only country to have played the final twice. Morocco are the tournament's current champions, having beaten Egypt 2-1 in the 2023 final.
History Beginning in 1956, the year before the foundation of CAF, there has been qualification tournaments for the Olympic Games football tournament for African teams, but they were on a home-and-away basis. In 2011, CAF formed a full-time standalone qualification tournament to align with the upgrades to its U-20 and U-17 competitions and named it the African U-23 Championship. On 6 August 2015, the CAF Executive Committee decided to change the tournament's name to the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, similar to the senior's version, Africa Cup of Nations. However the name on the tournament logo for the forthcoming 2015 edition would read as the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations.
On 21 July 2016, French energy and petroleum giant TotalEnergies (formerly Total S.A.) secured an 8-year sponsorship package from CAF to support its competitions.
Egypt hosted the 2019 tournament, and was won by them, making Egypt the first host nation to win the title in home country.
The 2023 tournament was hosted by Morocco, making it the second time the country has hosted this tournament. The tournament started on 24 June and ended on 8 July. The Final between Egypt and Morocco was held at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat. Morocco defeated Egypt 2–1, to win their first ever title.
Results Coincidentally, every final has had the same scoreline. YearHostFinalThird place matchWinnerScoreRunners-upThird placeScoreFourth place20112–12–020152–10–020192–1 2–220232–1 0–02027––
Successful national teams
TeamChampionsRunners-upThird-placeFourth-place1 (2019*) 1 (2023)1 (2011) –1 (2023*) 1 (2011*)– –1 (2011) – – –1 (2015) – – – –1 (2015) – – –1 (2019) – – – –2 (2015, 2019) – – – 1 (2023) – – – – 2 (2011, 2015*) – – – 1 (2019) – – – 1 (2023) *= Hosts
Champions by region Regional federationChampion(s)Title(s)UNAF (North Africa)Egypt (1), Morocco (1)2WAFU (West Africa)Nigeria (1)1UNIFFAC (Central Africa)Gabon (1)1COSAFA (Southern Africa) -0CECAFA (East Africa) -0
Participating nations Team 2011(8) 2015(8) 2019(8) 2023(8) 2027(?) Years GS 2nd • • 2 • • GS • 1 • • • GS 1 3rd GS 1st 2nd Q 4 1st • • GS 2 • • 4th GS 2 • × • 4th 1 GS • 2nd • 2 • GS GS 3rd 3 2nd • • 1st 2 × × • GS 1 GS 1st GS • 3 4th 4th • • 2 GS 3rd 3rd • 3 • GS • • 1 • GS GS • 2
Legend
– Champions – Runners-up – Third place – Fourth place GS – Group stage Q – Qualified
— Hosts × – Did not enter • – Did not qualify × – Withdrew before qualification — Withdrew after qualification — Disqualified after qualification
Results at the Olympics (2012–present) Nation12162024Years–14––18–84312–––1–––161 ––7–1 –––14111––32–3––16–––1–1316–2
Awards Player of the Tournament Originally called the "Most Valuable Player (MVP)" until the 2019 edition.
YearGolden Player2015 Azubuike Okechukwu2019 Ramadan Sobhi2023 Ibrahim Adel
Goalkeeper of the Tournament
YearBest Goalkeeper2015 Abdelkader Salhi2019 Mohamed Sobhy2023 Hamza Alaa
Top goalscorer This is awarded to the player(s) who score the most goals during each edition of the tournament.
EditionTop goalscorerGoalsMorocco 20113Senegal 2015 Etebo Oghenekaro5Egypt 2019 Mostafa Mohamed4Morocco 20233
See also Africa Cup of Nations U-20 Africa Cup of Nations U-17 Africa Cup of Nations Football at the African Games Football at the Summer Olympics
References
External links
Tournament records and statistics at RSSSF