The 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. Players born on or after 1 January 1993 were eligible to compete in the tournament.
A total of eight teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Senegal who qualified automatically as hosts.
The top three teams of the final tournament will qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Brazil.
Teams A total of 26 CAF member national teams entered the qualifying rounds.
RoundTeams entering roundNo. of teamsFirst round10Second round9Third round7Qualifying roundsTotal26Final tournament (hosts)1
Did not enter (original hosts)
Notes The final tournament was originally to be hosted by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After Senegal replaced them as hosts, the CAF released an updated version of the draw. In the initial draw, Zimbabwe and Swaziland were to play each other in the first round, where the winner would play South Africa in the second round, where the winner would play Senegal in the third round. In the updated draw, Zimbabwe and Swaziland play each other in the second round, where the winner play South Africa in the third round. Namibia's U23 team manager Jakes Amaning said the Namibia Football Association did apply to take part in the tournament, but due to unforeseen circumstances its name did not appear in the CAF draw. The Confederation of African Football have said the Namibian application may not have been received due to a "technical error". Although the draw took place on 20 September 2014, FIFA have set a deadline of 25 October for applicants.
Format Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).
The seven winners of the third round qualified for the final tournament.
Schedule The schedule of the qualifying rounds was as follows.
RoundLegDateFirst roundFirst leg24–26 April 2015Second leg8–10 May 2015Second roundFirst leg22–24 May 2015Second leg29–31 May 2015Third roundFirst leg17–19 July 2015Second leg31 July–2 August 2015
First round
Note: Guinea-Bissau and Libya withdrew. Liberia played their home match in Ghana due to Ebola outbreak. Somalia played their home match in Djibouti (originally in Kenya) due to security concerns.
Ghana won 7–1 on aggregate.
Sierra Leone won on walkover.
Mauritania won on walkover.
4–4 on aggregate. Botswana won on away goals.
Rwanda won 3–1 on aggregate.
Second round
Note: Sierra Leone played their home match in Cameroon due to Ebola outbreak.
1–1 on aggregate. Congo won on penalties.
1–1 on aggregate. Sierra Leone won on away goals.
Mali won 4–2 on aggregate.
Zambia won 3–1 on aggregate.
Uganda won 4–1 on aggregate.
2–2 on aggregate. Zimbabwe won on away goals.
Tunisia won 3–0 on aggregate.
Third round Winners qualified for 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.
Note: Sierra Leone played their home match in Algeria due to Ebola outbreak (match also brought forward by a week).
Nigeria won 2–1 on aggregate.
Algeria won 2–0 on aggregate.
Mali won 3–0 on aggregate.
0–0 on aggregate. Zambia won on penalties.
Egypt won 6–1 on aggregate.
South Africa won 4–1 on aggregate.
Tunisia won 2–1 on aggregate.
Qualified teams The following eight teams qualified for the final tournament.
Team Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament1 (hosts) (2011) (2011) (2011) (debut) (debut) (2011) (2011) (debut) 1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
Goalscorers 4 goals
Kahraba Adama Niane
3 goals
Omaatla Kebatho Dauda Mohammed Michael Olunga Keagan Dolly Farouk Miya
2 goals
Abdelhakim Amokrane Junior Ajayi
1 goal
Onkabetse Makgantai Unobatsha Mbaiwa Joseph Minala Silvère Ganvoula Moise Nkounkou Mohamed Salem Ramadan Sobhi Kennedy Ashia Ebo Andoh Richard Gadze Baba Mensah Tamimu Montari John Ndirangu Van-Dave Harmon Moctar Cissé Adama Traoré Boubacar Bagili Mamadou Niass Achraf Bencharki Isaïe Songa Yannick Mukunzi Kevin Muhire Dominique Savio Nshuti Ibrahim Sorie Barrie Abbas Mohammed Gift Motupa Muzi Dlamini Mxolisi Mkhontfo Ghailene Chaalali Haythem Jouini Slimane Kchok Yassine Meriah Edem Rjaïbi Muzamir Mutyaba John Ssemazi Jackson Chirwa Kelvin Kampamba Ronald Kampamba Tino Kadewere Walter Musona Ronald Pfumbidzai
Own goal Karl Mboudou (playing against Mali)
References
External links Africa U-23 Cup Of Nations, Senegal 2015 Qualifiers, CAFonline.com