The 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (2026 U-17 AFCON; ), officially known as the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 16th edition (21st if editions held as World Cup qualifiers are included) of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, an annual international youth football tournament contested by African under-17 national teams and organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It was hosted by Morocco for the second consecutive time from 13 May to 2 June 2026.
The top 10 teams qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar as CAF representatives. Morocco, the defending champions, having won their first title in 2025, were beaten in the semifinals by Senegal, which went on to win the title for the second time after defeating Tanzania 4-2 on penalties in the final.
Qualification
A total of 48 (out of 54) CAF member associations registered for the regional qualification phase of the competition. Congo withdrew from the qualifiers, while Equatorial Guinea were disqualified after several players failed MRI eligibility tests.
Of the 16 qualified teams, 11 participated in the previous edition. Algeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Mozambique return to the tournament, while DR Congo make their debut. Qualified teams The following teams qualified for the tournament.
Team Zone Date of qualificationAppearance Last appearance Previous North Zone 5th 2025 (2025) 5th 2025 (1997) 3rd 2023 (2009) 5th 2025 West A Zone 5th 2025 (2023) 11th 2025 (2015, 2017) West B Zone 7th 2025 (2013) 8th 2017 (1995, 1999) Central Zone 10th 2025 (2003, 2019) 1st None Central-East Zone 4th 2025 (2017, 2019, 2025) 3rd 2025 (2019, 2025) 4th 2003 (1997) South Zone 6th 2025 (2015) 6th 2025 (2019) 3rd 2001 (1995, 2001)
Draw The draw took place on 8 April 2026 at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, at 12:00 (GMT). The draw was conducted by African stars playing in the Egyptian Premier League; Fiston Mayele (DR Congo), Aliou Dieng (Mali) and Ahmed Belhadji (Morocco).
The 16 teams were divided into four pots of 4, and were seeded based on their performances in the last three editions of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (2019, 2023, and 2025). Hosts Morocco were automatically placed in position A1, while previous edition runners-up Mali were assigned to position C1. The remaining teams were drawn into the rest of the available positions. Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
Venues All matches are held in the Rabat metropolitan area. The Moulay Hassan Stadium hosted the opening match, both semi-finals, and the final, while the remaining fixtures are staged at the pitches of the Mohammed VI Football Academy. RabatSalé Moulay El Hassan Stadium(3 pitches) Capacity: 22,000
Squads
Players born on 1 January 2009 or later are eligible to participate in this tournament.
Match officials Referees
Rodrigue Bigirimana Willy Ngah Tuonifere Soro
Mahmoud Wafa
Abdallah Jammeh Amoah Reginald-Collins Emmanuel Mensah
Mohamed El Baroudi Antsino Twanyanyukwa Naftal Negongo Mohamed Ali Moussa
Elhadji Amadou Sy
Ahmed Arajiga
Abdellaoui Fredj
Hillary Hambaba
Assistant referees
Yacine Ouerd-Benslama
Herve Nduwayo
Ali Hatoup Daoud
Eleyeh Robleh
Junior Assoughe Mohamed Al-Teer Larenion Miladera Sakina Hamidou Alfa Emmanuel Habumugisha Cledwin Baloyi
Shaji Padayachy
Yassine Saadaoui Brianson Musisi Nancy Kasitu
Group stage
Tiebreakers Teams were ranked according to the three points for a win system (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings: Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, if two teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are applied exclusively to these two teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Drawing of lots.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Play-off matches The winners qualify for the 2026 U-17 World Cup.
Knockout stage In the knockout stage, penalty shoot-outs were used to decide the winners should a match is tied after 90 minutes. (Regulations Article 75).
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Third place match
Final
Goalscorers
Awards Man of the match The Man of the Match award was presented after each game during the tournament. The award, presented by TotalEnergies, included an official trophy handed to the player at the end of the match.
Stage Team 1 Result Team 2 Man of the Match Group stage matches Group A 1–1 Ibrahim Rabbaj 0–0 Ahmed Safwat Group B 2–0 Hubert Yao 3–0 Owen Mukisa Group C 0–0 Gelson Joaquim Dala 3–0 Issa Mussa Chole Group D 1–2 Cheikh Dieng 2–2 Eric Adu Gyamfi Group A 1–2 Yahya Jlidi 1–2 Adam Soudi Group B 1–0 Muhoozi Henry 0–1 Youssouf Diabate Group C 0–3 Saddam Hussen Hamis 1–1 Youssif Sylla Group D 0–2 Yacine Abed 0–1 Assane Sarr Group A 2–1 Marouane Bentaleb 0–1 Binyam Abrha Teare Group B 2–2 Abdoul-Rahamane Doumbia 1–0 Esingila George Mbinde Group C 2–1 Abdoulaye Toure 1–2 Diego Elias Pelembe Group D 2–1 Souleymane Commissaire Faye 1–3 Joseph NarbiPlay-off matches Play-off matches 1–1 Júlio Boas Júnior 2–2 Abdul Latif Wunzalgu ZakiuKnock-out stage matches Quarter-finals 1–0 Mohamed Habib Zinbi 1–1 Assane Sarr 1–4 Khaled Mokhtar 3–3 Mouhammad Valmy Semi-finals 1–1 Mouhamed Wagne 0–0 Issa Mussa Chole Third place play-off 0–2 Mohamed Ebeid Final 1–1 Mouhamed Wagne
Final Ranking Matches that ended in extra time were counted as wins and defeats, while matches that ended in a penalty shoot-out were counted as draws. The national team shown in italics represent the host nation. The competition's winning team is shown in bold.
| colspan="11"| Eliminated in the quarter-finals
| colspan="11"| Played play-off matches
| colspan="11"| Eliminated in the group stage
Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup The following ten teams from CAF qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar. Team Qualified onPrevious appearances in FIFA U-17 World Cup1 (debut) (1987, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2025) (2003, 2019) (2013, 2023, 2025) (1987, 1997, 2025) (1997, 1999, 2001, 2015, 2017, 2023, 2025) (2019, 2023, 2025) (2009) 23 May 2026 (debut) (2025) 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
See also 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations
Notes
References