2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations

The 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (Arabic: كأس أمم إفريقيا لأقل من 17 سنة 2026), officially known as the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, or simply the 2026 U-17 AFCON, will be the 16th edition (21st if editions held as World Cup qualifiers are included) of the annual international youth football tournament contested by African under-17 national teams and organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It is being hosted by Morocco for the second consecutive time from 13 May to 2 June 2026.

The top 10 teams will qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar as CAF representatives.

Morocco are the defending champions.

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.

The following teams qualified for the tournament.

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.

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.

Players born on 1 January 2009 or later are eligible to participate in this tournament.

Referees

Assistant referees

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:

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 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;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Drawing of lots.

In the knockout stage, penalty shoot-outs are used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 75).

The winners qualify for the 2026 U-17 World Cup.

There have been 42 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 2.1 goals per match (as of 19 May 2026).

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

The following ten teams from CAF qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar.

1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

• 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations