CAF has announced scheduled for the final draw of the upcoming TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Côte d’Ivoire 2025, to take place in Cairo on Thursday, February 13th.
Thirteen teams will participate in the tournament, held from April 26th to May 18th, 2025 with the top four nations set to subsequently qualify for the 2025 FIFA Under-20 World Cup which will be hosted in Chile from September 27th to October 19th, 2025, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.
The teams will be divided into three groups: Group A will consist of five teams, while Groups B and C will each have four. Host nation Côte d’Ivoire has been automatically placed in position A1 within Group A.
The remaining seedings for each group are based on the final standings of the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 AFCON, Egypt 2023. Defending champions Senegal will occupy position C1, and Nigeria, who finished third in the 2023 tournament, will be placed in B1.
Due to Congo's current suspension by FIFA, the second team representing the UNIFFAC Zonal Union is yet to be confirmed. However, the eventual UNIFFAC representative will be placed in Pot 1 (Level 2) alongside Egypt and Zambia. These three teams in Pot 1 will be drawn into positions A2, B2, and C2.
The top two teams from each group, along with the two best third-placed teams overall, will advance to the quarter-finals. The tournament will then proceed with a knockout stage format.
Qualified national teams although there's still some games left to be played includes; Cote d’Ivoire (hosts), DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, UNIFFAC 2 and Zambia.
By Oluwadamilola Olaleye