The 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, officially known as the Total U-17 Africa Cup Of Nations, Gabon 2017, 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.
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. 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.
On 3 February 2017, Gabon were selected as the new hosts, and the tournament was changed to 14 to 28 May 2017 (originally from 21 May to 4 June 2017).
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. Mali were cleared to compete after their suspension was lifted by FIFA on 28 April 2017.
Note: All appearance statistics count only those since the introduction of final tournament in 1995.
Team Appearance Previous best appearance (1997, 1999) (2003) (hosts) (2007, 2013) (1995, 1999) (1995, 2015) (2015) (2015)
Venues The two venues were confirmed in March 2017.
LibrevillePort-GentilStade de l'AmitiéStade de Port-GentilCapacity: 40,000Capacity: 20,000
Original venues of Madagascar before hosts were withdrawn.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.
The teams were seeded based on the results of the last edition (final tournament and qualifiers).
Level 1Level 2Level 3Level 4 (replaced after draw) (replaced after draw)
Squads
Each squad can contain a maximum of 21 players.
Match officials A total of 14 referees and 15 assistant referees were selected for the tournament.
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 NdalaReserve Referees Haithem Kossai Daniel Nii LaryeaAssistant 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 AmaldineReserve Assistant Referee Attia Amsaad
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 were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order: Number of points obtained in matches between the teams concerned; Goal difference in matches between the teams concerned; Goals scored in matches between the teams concerned; If, after applying criteria 1 to 3 to several teams, two teams still had an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 were reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 7 applied; Goal difference in all matches; Goals scored in all matches; Drawing of lots.
All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage In the knockout stages, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (no extra time was played).
Bracket
Semi-finals
Third place match
Final
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.
Team Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament1 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2015) (1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2007) (1985, 1989, 1995, 2015) (Debut) 1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
References
External links Total U-17 Africa Cup Of Nations, Gabon 2017, CAFonline.com