The 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-17 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.
Players born 1 January 2002 or later were eligible to participate in the competition. A total of eight teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Tanzania who qualified automatically as hosts.[1]
Teams
In July 2017, the Confederation of African Football decided that the qualifying competition should be split into regional competitions.[2] To qualify, 49 of the 54 CAF members entered the qualifying tournament of their zone, including the hosts Tanzania, which also participated in qualification despite automatically qualified for the final tournament.[3]
Apart from the hosts, each of the six zones received one spot in the final tournament, and the zone of the defending champions received an additional spot. Since Mali won the 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, West A Zone received two spots.[4]
(Q): Automatically qualified for final tournament regardless of qualification results
Format
The qualification format is determined by each zone (Regulations Article 13).[6]
In case any qualification ties are played on a home-and-away two-legged basis: If the aggregate score is tied after the second leg, the away goals rule is applied, and if still tied, the penalty shoot-out (no extra time) is used to determine the winner.
In case any qualification groups are played on a round-robin basis: Teams are 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 are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:[6]
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
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;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Drawing of lots.
In case any qualification matches are played on a knockout basis: The penalty shoot-out (no extra time) is used to decide the winner if necessary.
Schedule
The schedule of each qualifying zone is as follows.
The draw for the group stage was held on 30 July 2018.[11] The nine teams were drawn into three groups of three teams. The winners of each group and the best runners-up advanced to the semi-finals.
The WAFU-UFOA Zone B qualifiers for the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations were held in Niger between 2–15 September 2018.[15] It was originally to be hosted at Ghana, but a new host was appointed.[16] The matches were played at Niamey (Stade Général Seyni Kountché; Stade Municipal would originally also host matches).[17]
The draw for the group stage was held on 24 July 2018.[18] The seven teams were drawn into two groups, one of three teams and one of four teams. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
The draw for the group stage was held on 30 July 2018.[23] The seven teams were drawn into two groups, one of four teams and one of three teams. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
Source: CAF Rules for classification: Group tiebreakers (D) Disqualified; (H) Hosts Notes:
^On 3 August 2018, São Tomé and Príncipe were disqualified from the tournament after it was found out with the help of the MRI tests that all the players of the team were born in 2001 and would have been overaged in 2019. CAF earlier announced in its regulations that all the players should have born on or after 1 January 2002.[24]
The draw for the group stage was held on 5 July 2018.[27] The ten teams were drawn into two groups of five teams. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
The draw for the group stage was held on 31 May 2018.[32] The twelve teams were drawn into three groups of four teams. The winners of each group and the best runners-up advanced to the semi-finals.
^ abGambia had only 1 substitute in their lineup as 7 of their players failed the MRI test. The referee stopped the match at the 62nd minute, the Gambians complaining that the lighting of the stadium was insufficient and had their only goalkeeper injured. The referee finished the match at the 62nd minute as Gambia was unable to continue. Mali qualified for the semi-final and since there were only 2 teams in the group after the withdrawal of Liberia, CAF announced that the team finishing 2nd in Group B was ineligible to be ranked in the table for the best 2nd place team.[13][14]
^ abKick-off of the match between Mauritania and Cape Verde was moved from 21:00 to 18:30, and the match between Cape Verde and Guinea was moved from 21:00 to 16:30, after the withdrawal of Liberia from Group B.
^Venue of the match between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast was moved from Stade Municipal to Stade Général Seyni Kountché after the disqualification of Benin.
^Kick-off of the match between Equatorial Guinea and Congo was moved from 19:00 to 16:00 after the disqualification of São Tomé and Príncipe.
^ abcdKick-off of the matches between Burundi and Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania, and Rwanda and Tanzania, were moved from 17:00 to 16:00, and the match between Burundi and Sudan was moved from 14:00 to 16:00, after the withdrawal of Somalia.
^ abKick-off of the matches between Uganda and Djibouti, was moved from 14:00 to 15:00, and the match between Ethiopia and Kenya was moved from 17:00 to 15:00 and venue moved from Chamazi Stadium to National Stadium, to ensure fairness for the final round of matches.
