2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations

The 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations was the 13th edition of the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations (18th 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. In May 2015, it was decided that the tournament would be hosted by Tanzania.[1]

2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations
2019 Afrika U-17 Kombe la Mataifa
Tournament details
Host countryTanzania
Dates14–28 April 2019
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Cameroon (2nd title)
Runners-upVacant
Third place Angola
Fourth place Nigeria
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored36 (2.25 per match)
Top scorer(s) Capita (4 goals)
Best player(s) Stève Mvoué
Fair play award Angola

Four teams of the tournament qualified for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil as the CAF representatives. Cameroon won their second title.

Angola and Nigeria qualified for finishing third and fourth in the competition respectively. Defending champions Mali failed to qualify.

Following completion of the tournament, CAF ejected Guinea from the competition, and deleted its results from the records, for fielding players with passports which had a different date of birth to those the players had used in the U-16 age restricted 'International Dream Cup' in Japan. Senegal were given the remaining place at the U-17 World Cup as they had placed behind Guinea during the group stage.[2]

Qualification
Main article: 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations qualification

The CAF decided in July 2017 that the format of the qualifying competition should be changed and split according to zones.[3] The qualifiers were played between 19 July and 18 September 2018. At the end of the qualification phase, seven teams joined the hosts Tanzania.

Player eligibility

Players born 1 January 2002 or later were eligible to participate in the competition.

Qualified teams

The following eights teams qualified for the final tournament.[4]

Note: All appearance statistics count only those since the introduction of final tournament in 1995.

Team Zone Appearance Previous best performance
 Tanzania (hosts)Central-East Zone2ndGroup stage (2017)
 MoroccoNorth Zone2ndFourth place (2013)
 SenegalWest A Zone2ndGroup stage (2011)
 GuineaWest A Zone7thThird place (1995, 2015, 2017)
 NigeriaWest B Zone9thChampions (2001, 2007)
 CameroonCentral Zone7thChampions (2003)
 UgandaCentral-East Zone1stDebut
 AngolaSouth Zone4thGroup stage (1997, 1999, 2017)

Venues

The matches were played in two venues.

Cities Venues Capacity
Dar es Salaam National Stadium 60,000
Mbagala, Dar es Salaam Chamazi Stadium 10,000

Squads
Further information: 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations squads

Each squad can contain a maximum of 21 players.[5]

Draw

The draw of the final tournament was held on 20 December 2018, 19:30 EAT (UTC+3), at the Mlimani City Conference Centre in Dar es Salaam.[6][7] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. The hosts Tanzania were seeded in Group A and allocated to position A1, while 2017 third place Guinea were seeded in Group B and allocated to position B1 (2017 champions and runners-up Mali and Ghana did not qualify). The remaining six teams were seeded based on their results in the 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations (final tournament and qualifiers), and drawn to any of the remaining three positions in each group.[8][9]

Seeds Pot 1 Pot 2

Match officials

A total of 13 referees and 14 assistant referees were appointed for the tournament, including one women referee and two women assistant referees, which is the first time women officials were appointed in a CAF men's tournament.[10][11]

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals and qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point 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 (Regulations Article 72):[5]

  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 local, EAT (UTC+3).[12]

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Nigeria 3 2 1 0 7 5 +2 7 Knockout stage and
2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2  Angola 3 2 0 1 5 3 +2 6
3  Uganda 3 1 1 1 4 2 +2 4
4  Tanzania (H) 3 0 0 3 6 12 −6 0
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host.
Tanzania 4–5 Nigeria
  • Godfrey  22', 60' (pen.)
  • Pius  52'
  • Abraham  58' (pen.)
 Report
  • Olaniyan  21'
  • Ubani  30', 72'
  • Amoo  37'
  • Jabaar  79'
Referee: Issa Sy (Senegal)
Angola 1–0 Uganda
  • Capita  32'
 Report
Referee: Nabil Boukhalfa (Algeria)
Nigeria 1–0 Angola
  • Olusegun  21' (pen.)
 Report
Referee: Hassan El Ghandour (Egypt)
Uganda 3–0 Tanzania
  • Kawooya  16'
  • Asaba  28'
  • Yiga  77'
 Report
Referee: Samir Guezzaz (Morocco)
Tanzania 2–4 Angola
  • Omary  12'
  • Ngoda  44'
 Report
  • Mimo  17'
  • Capita  41' (pen.), 72'
  • David  68'
Referee: Abdulwahid Huraywidah (Libya)
Nigeria 1–1 Uganda
  • Jabaar  74'
 Report
  • Alou  69'
Referee: Blaise Yuven Ngwa (Cameroon)

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Cameroon 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 7 Knockout stage and
2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2  Guinea (D) 3 2 0 1 3 3 0 6
3  Senegal 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup
4  Morocco 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 1
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(D) Disqualified.
Guinea 0–2 Cameroon
Report
Referee: Tsegay Mogos Teklu (Eritrea)
Morocco 1–1 Senegal
  • Bentayeb  47'
 Report
  • Baldé  88'
Referee: Abdoul Karim Twagiramukiza (Rwanda)
Cameroon 2–1 Morocco
  • Seidou  73', 90+2'
 Report
  • Bentayeb  22'
Referee: Beida Dahane (Mauritania)
Senegal 1–2 Guinea
  • S. Diallo  10'
 Report
  • Bah  33'
  • Fanyé  80'
Referee: Mashood Ssali (Uganda)
Guinea 1–0 Morocco
  • Fanyé  64'
 Report
Referee: Pierre Ghislain Atcho (Gabon)
Cameroon 0–0 Senegal
Report
Referee: Jonesia Rukyaa Kabakama (Tanzania)

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, penalty shoot-out (no extra time) was used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 73).[5]

Bracket
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
24 April – Dar es Salaam
 
 
 Nigeria0 (9)
 
28 April – Dar es Salaam
 
 Guinea (p)0 (10)
 
 Guinea0 (3)
 
24 April – Dar es Salaam
 
 Cameroon (p)0 (5)
 
 Cameroon (p)0 (4)
 
 
 Angola0 (3)
 
Third place match
 
 
27 April – Dar es Salaam
 
 
 Nigeria1
 
 
 Angola2

Semi-finals
Nigeria 0–0 Guinea
Report
Penalties
  • Jabaar
  • Ishaya
  • Olusegun
  • Ikenna
  • Olaniyan
  • Tanko
  • Abdullahi
  • Ubani
  • Tijani
  • Oduko
9–10
  • A. Bangoura
  • Touré
  • Conté
  • Tidiany
  • Keita
  • M. Bangoura
  • Bah
  • Breze
  • Kalil
  • Lamine
Referee: Andofetra Rakotojaona (Madagascar)
Cameroon 0–0 Angola
Report
Penalties
 4–3
  • Domingos
  • Cisco
  • Pablo
  • Zito
  • Porfirio
Referee: Issa Sy (Senegal)

Third place match
Nigeria 1–2 Angola
  • Ubani  30'
 Report
  • Capita  27'
  • Zito  49'
Referee: Abdoul Karim Twagiramukiza (Rwanda)

Final
Guinea 0–0 Cameroon
Report
Penalties
  • A. Bangoura
  • Touré
  • Conté
  • Sacko
3–5
  • Mvoué
  • Ndongo
  • Wamba
  • Nang
  • Alioum
Referee: Dahane Beida (Mauritania)

Winners
 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations 

Cameroon
Second title

Awards

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

Top Goalscorer[13] Most Valuable Player[13] Fair Play award[13]
Capita Stève Mvoué  Angola

Goalscorers

There were 36 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 2.25 goals per match.

4 goals

  • Capita

3 goals

  • Wisdom Ubani

2 goals

  • Ismaïla Seidou
  • Momo Fanyé
  • Tawfik Bentayeb
  • Ibraheem Jabaar
  • Edmund Godfrey

1 goal

  • David
  • Mimo
  • Zito
  • Stève Mvoué
  • Léonel Wamba
  • Algassime Bah
  • Akinkunmi Amoo
  • Olatomi Olaniyan
  • Olakunle Olusegun
  • Aliou Baldé
  • Samba Diallo
  • Morice Abraham
  • Agiri Ngoda
  • Omary Jumanne Omary
  • Kelvin Pius
  • Ivan Asaba
  • John Alou
  • Andrew Kawooya
  • Najib Yiga

Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup

The following four teams from CAF qualified for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[14]

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA U-17 World Cup1
 Cameroon18 April 20191 (2003)
 Nigeria20 April 201911 (1985, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015)
 Angola20 April 20190 (debut)
 Senegal17 May 20190 (debut)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Concerns and controversies
  • Following Morocco's loss to Cameroon in the group stage, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation lodged a complaint with CAF over allegations that Cameroon had fielded over-age players and falsified documents.[15] The case was dismissed due to insufficent evidence.
  • Following Senegal's loss to Guinea in the group stage, the Senegalese Football Federation lodged a complaint with CAF over allegations that Guinea had fielded over-age players and falsified documents, and the Nigeria Football Federation lodged a complaint with CAF following Nigeria's loss to Guinea in the semi-finals about Aboubacar Conte and Ahmed Tidiane Keita. [16] In 2017, Guinea had a team at the International Dream Cup in Japan: two of the players involved, Aboubacar Conte and Ahmed Tidiane Keita been registered with a date of birth that would make those players ineligible for the competition.[17] After both complaints were upheld, Guinea was ejected from the competition, being replaced by Senegal for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup spot.

Guinean Football Federation punishment

CAF imposed the following penalties on the Guinean Football Federation:

  • Guinea's representative team were excluded from the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the team was also barred from entering the next two editions of the competition.
  • The Guinean Football Federation was also fined $50,000 USD, with a further $50,000 USD fine (in addition to any other penalty) should a similar incident reoccur within the next four years.
  • CAF ejected Guinea from the competition and requested the return of the runners-up medals: failure to do so would result in a fine of $20,000 USD.
  • The two players with falsified documents, Aboubacar Conte and Tidiane Keita, were banned from competition for two years.
  • The Guinean Football Federation official who filed the falsified documents was banned from being involved in football for two years.

References
  1. "CAF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE DECISIONS OF 26 MAY 2015". www.cafonline.com. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  2. "Guinea found guilty of age-cheating and disqualified from U-17 World Cup". 2019-05-18. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
  3. "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee – 20 July 2017". CAF. 20 July 2017.
  4. "Finalists for Tanzania 2019 emerge". CAF. 20 September 2018.
  5. "Regulations of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations" (PDF). CAFonline.com. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  6. "Accreditation for official draw of Total U-20 AFCON Niger 2019 & Total U-17 AFCON Tanzania 2019". CAF. 29 November 2018.
  7. "Rivals kept apart as Tanzania draw Nigeria". CAF. 20 December 2018.
  8. "Draw Procedure for Total U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Tanzania 2019". CAF. 18 December 2018.
  9. "Procedures of the draw of the 13th Edition TOTAL U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Tanzania 2019" (PDF). CAF.
  10. "Ground-breaking as Women referees nominated for U-17 AFCON". CAF. 11 March 2018.
  11. "List of Preselected Referees AFCON U17- Tanzania 2019". CAF.
  12. @CAF_Online (13 April 2019). "Here are the fixtures of @Total U-17 Africa Cup of Nations taking place in Dar Es Salam, Tanzania @Tanfootball #TotalAFCONU17" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. "Cameroon crowned Champions as Guinea pay penalty". CAF. 28 April 2019.
  14. "Angola set for debut, Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria qualify". FIFA.com. 21 April 2019.
  15. "Morocco: Cameroon should be disqualified for alleged age-cheating in U17 Afcon | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  16. "Senegal complain to Caf about Guinea's alleged age-cheating | Goal.com". www.goal.com. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  17. "U-16 International Dream Cup 2017 JAPAN Presented by The Asahi Shimbun". JFA｜Japan Football Association (in Japanese).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.