2015 African U-20 Championship
Coupe d'Afrique des nations junior 2015
Tournament details
Host countrySenegal
Dates8–22 March
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Nigeria (7th title)
Runners-up Senegal
Third place Ghana
Fourth place Mali
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored53 (3.31 per match)
Top scorer(s)Nigeria Musa Muhammed
(4 goals)
Best player(s)Ghana Yaw Yeboah
Fair play award Nigeria
2013
2017

The 2015 African U-20 Championship was the 20th edition of the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for players aged 20 and below. The tournament took place in Senegal between 8–22 March 2015.[1][2]

The semi-finalists of the tournament qualified for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.[3] Nigeria won the tournament, and were joined by hosts Senegal, Ghana, and Mali as CAF qualifiers for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Qualification

Main article: 2015 African U-20 Championship qualification

The qualifiers were played between April and August 2014. At the end of the qualification phase, seven teams joined the hosts Senegal.

Qualified teams

Venues

Cities Venues Capacity
Dakar Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor 60,000
M'Bour Stade Caroline Faye 5,000

Match officials

The referees were:[4]

Referees
Assistant referees

Draw

The draw for the final tournament was held on 21 December 2014, 11:00 UTC+02:00, at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[5] Senegal and Ghana were seeded and placed into Groups A and B respectively.[6]

Squads

Main article: 2015 African U-20 Championship squads

Each team could register a squad of 21 players (three of whom had to be goalkeepers).[3]

Group stage

The group winners and runners-up advanced to the semi-finals and qualified for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[7]

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:[3]

  1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
  2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
  3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
  4. Goal difference in all games;
  5. Goals scored in all games;
  6. Fair Play point system in which the number of yellow and red cards were evaluated;
  7. Drawing of lots.

All times are UTC±00:00.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Nigeria 3 2 1 0 9 4 +5 7 Knockout stage and 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup
2  Senegal (H) 3 1 1 1 7 8 −1 4
3  Ivory Coast 3 0 3 0 5 5 0 3
4  Congo 3 0 1 2 5 9 −4 1
Source: CAF
(H) Hosts
Senegal 1–3 Nigeria
Sarr 27' Report Awoniyi 9', 12'
Matthew 43'
Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar
Referee: Rédouane Jiyed (Morocco)
Congo 1–1 Ivory Coast
Ganvoula 75' Report Meite 37'
Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar
Referee: Davies Ogenche Omweno (Kenya)

Nigeria 4–1 Congo
Matthew 4'
Muhammed 35' (pen.), 56' (pen.)
Awoniyi 87'
Report Ganvoula 61'
Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar
Referee: Mahamadou Keita (Mali)
Ivory Coast 2–2 Senegal
Angban 8'
Bedia 89'
Report Wadji 51', 56'

Senegal 4–3 Congo
Niang 15'
Wadji 36'
Sarr 87', 90'
Report Nkounkou 20'
Ganvoula 55'
Bakaki 66'
Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar
Referee: Thierry Nkurunziza (Burundi)
Nigeria 2–2 Ivory Coast
Pyagbara 27'
Muhammed 68' (pen.)
Report Niangbo 5'
Bedia 32'
Stade Caroline Faye, M'Bour
Referee: Mutaz Abdelbasit Khairalla (Sudan)

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Mali 3 3 0 0 4 1 +3 9 Knockout stage and 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup
2  Ghana 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6
3  South Africa 3 1 0 2 6 6 0 3
4  Zambia 3 0 0 3 3 8 −5 0
Source: CAF
Ghana 2–0 South Africa
Masiya 9' (o.g.)
B. Tetteh 44'
Report
Mali 1–0 Zambia
Diallo 75' Report
Stade Caroline Faye, M'Bour
Referee: Hagi Yabarow Wiish (Somalia)

South Africa 1–2 Mali
Madisha 71' (pen.) Report H. Traoré 77', 86'
Stade Caroline Faye, M'Bour
Referee: Mohamed Ragab Omar (Libya)
Zambia 1–2 Ghana
D. Daka 2' Report Attobrah 26'
Afful 85'
Stade Caroline Faye, M'Bour
Referee: Daouda Gueye (Senegal)

Ghana 0–1 Mali
Report I. Diarra 18'
Stade Caroline Faye, M'Bour
Referee: Aurélien Juenkou Wandji (Cameroon)
South Africa 5–2 Zambia
Zuma 22', 63'
Sandows 57', 66', 87'
Report Seriba 30' (o.g.)
Zulu 90'

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner, except for the play-off for third place where no extra time was played.[3]

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
18 March
 
 
 Nigeria2
 
22 March
 
 Ghana0
 
 Nigeria1
 
19 March
 
 Senegal0
 
 Mali1
 
 
 Senegal2
 
Third place
 
 
22 March
 
 
 Ghana3
 
 
 Mali1

Semi-finals

Nigeria 2–0 Ghana
Nwobodo 23'
Muhammed 71' (pen.)
Report
Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar
Referee: Rédouane Jiyed (Morocco)

Mali 1–2 Senegal
Diallo 5' Report Koné 2', 81'

Third place match

Ghana 3–1 Mali
Yeboah 24', 65'
Aboagye 70'
Report Touré 84'
Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar
Referee: Mutaz Abdelbasit Khairalla (Sudan)

Final

Nigeria 1–0 Senegal
Bulbwa 17' Report

Awards

Team of the tournament

Goalscorers

4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Own goal

See also

References

  1. ^ "Confederation Africaine de Football Press Release" (PDF). CAF. 22 September 2013. Archived from the original (pdf) on September 27, 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  2. ^ "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee on hosting of Junior and Senior CAF Competitions". CAF. 27 September 2011. Archived from the original on January 1, 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d "Regulations of the African Youth Championship" (PDF). Cafonline.com.
  4. ^ "Referees". CAFOnline.com. March 1, 2015.
  5. ^ "U-17 & U-20 draw set for Dec. 21". CAF. 15 December 2014.
  6. ^ "COSAFA duo, South Africa, Zambia draw each other". CAF. 21 December 2014.
  7. ^ "Fixtures of the Final Tournament of the 19th African U20 Championship, Senegal-2015" (PDF). CAF.
  8. ^ a b c d e "General Statistics of Orange African U-20 Championship Senegal 2015". CAF. Retrieved 24 March 2015.