2015 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations

Not to be confused with Football at the 2015 African Games – Men's tournament.
2015 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations
2015 Coupe d'Afrique des nations U-23
Tournament details
Host country Senegal
Dates28 November – 12 December
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Nigeria (1st title)
Runners-up Algeria
Third place South Africa
Fourth place Senegal
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored36 (2.25 per match)
Top scorer(s)Nigeria Etebo Oghenekaro (5 goals)
Best player(s)Nigeria Azubuike Okechukwu
Best goalkeeperAlgeria Abdelkader Salhi
Fair play award South Africa
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The 2015 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations was the 2nd edition of the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, the quadrennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the men's under-23 national teams of Africa. The tournament started on 28 November and finished on 12 December 2015.[1] A total of eight teams are playing in the tournament.

The tournament was initially scheduled to take place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 5–19 December 2015.[2][3] However, CAF changed the hosts and requested Senegal to host the tournament instead,[4] and the tournament dates were also changed.

On 6 August 2015, the CAF Executive Committee decided to change the name of the tournament from the CAF U-23 Championship to the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, similar to the senior's version, Africa Cup of Nations.[5]

Same as the previous edition, the tournament acted as the CAF qualifiers for the Olympic football tournament. The top three teams of the tournament qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Brazil as the CAF representatives.[6]

Nigeria won the tournament with a 1–0 final win over Algeria. Both finalists and third-placed South Africa qualified for the Olympics.[7]

  1. ^ "CAF Executive Committee decisions of 26 May 2015". CAF. 27 May 2015.
  2. ^ "CAF Media Tweet". CAF. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  3. ^ "CAF Full Calendar". CAFonline.com. 28 February 2015. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Macky Sall accepts to host U-23 Championship in December". CAF. 14 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee on 6 August 2015". CAF. 9 August 2015.
  6. ^ "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXXI OLYMPIAD – RIO 2016 – Football" (PDF). Rio 2016 Official Website. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original (pdf) on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  7. ^ "South Africa grab Africa's final Rio ticket". FIFA.com. 12 December 2015. Archived from the original on December 15, 2015.