The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released the draw procedure for the 2025 TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations. Ghana will join 12 other countries for the biennial youth tournament, scheduled to take place in Cote D'Ivoire from April 26 to May 18, 2025.
The participating teams include Egypt and Morocco from North Africa, holders Senegal and Sierra Leone from WAFU A, Nigeria, Ghana, and host Cote d'Ivoire from WAFU B, Tanzania and Kenya from CECAFA, South Africa and Zambia from COSAFA, and DR Congo from Central Africa.
The 13 teams will be distributed into three groups: one group of five teams (A) and two groups of four teams (B and C). The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stages, along with the two best third-placed teams. The ranking of the third-placed teams will be determined after removing the results of the team ranked fifth in Group A. The knockout stages will consist of the quarterfinals, semifinals, third-place match, and final.
RANKING:
- Senegal – Winner in 2023
- Nigeria – Third place in 2023
- Congo – Second in group stage
- Egypt – Third in group stage
- Zambia – Fourth in group stage
Note: The remaining teams did not qualify.
Cote d'Ivoire, the host, will occupy position A1.
Senegal, the holder of the title from the 2023 edition, will occupy position C1, while Nigeria, the third-placed team in 2023, will occupy position B1.
Congo, Egypt, and Zambia, the next best-ranked teams from the 2023 edition, will be in level 2.
DRAW PROCEDURES:
In level 1, Cote d'Ivoire will occupy position A1, Nigeria will occupy position B1, and Senegal will occupy position C1.
Five pots will be used for the draw:
- Pot 1: The teams in level 2 (Congo, Egypt, and Zambia)
- Pot 2: The remaining seven teams (Ghana, RD Congo, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania)
- Pot 3: Positions A2, B2, and C2
- Pot 4: Positions A3, B3, and C3
- Pot 5: Positions A4, B4, and C4
The teams in level 2 will be drawn into positions A2, B2, and C2. The remaining teams will be drawn into positions A3, B3, C3, A4, B4, and C4. The remaining team will automatically occupy position A5.
Ghana last won the title in 2021, defeating Uganda 2-0 in the final in Mauritania.
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