2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations

2023 CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations
كأس أمم إفريقيا تحت 20 سنة 2023
Tournament details
Host countryEgypt
Dates19 February – 11 March
Teams12 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Senegal (1st title)
Runners-up Gambia
Third place Nigeria
Fourth place Tunisia
Tournament statistics
Matches played26
Goals scored54 (2.08 per match)
Top scorer(s)Senegal Pape Diop (5 goals)[1]
Best player(s)Senegal Lamine Camara[2]
Best goalkeeperSenegal Landing Badji[3]
Fair play award Nigeria[4]
2021
2025

The 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (Arabic: كأس أمم إفريقيا تحت 20 سنة 2023, French: Coupe d'Afrique des nations de football des moins de 20 ans 2023), known as the 2023 U20 AFCON or 2023 AFCON U20 for short and as the 2023 TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, was the 17th edition (24th if editions of the tournament without hosts are included) of the biennial African international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football. Egypt hosted the tournament, which took place from 19 February to 11 March 2023. The tournament involved 12 teams, Senegal won the tournament for the first time, defeating Gambia in the final and did not concede a single goal the entire tournament.[5]

This edition of the tournament also doubles as the African qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina where teams who reached the semi-finals stage qualified automatically and also for the 2023 African Games in Accra, Ghana where teams who reached the quarter-finals stage qualified automatically too.

Ghana were the defending champions following their 4th title win in 2021, but failed to qualify for this edition after losing to Nigeria in the WAFU sub-regional qualification tournament.[6][7]

  1. ^ "Senegal U20 star Pape Diop scoops Umbro Golden Boot award". cafonline.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Camara named TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON best player". cafonline.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Senegal custodian Badji named TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON Best Goalkeeper". cafonline.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Nigeria win TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON Fair Play award". cafonline.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Central Africa Republic and Congo Brazzaville complete TotalEnergies U20 AFCON Egypt 2023 list". CAFOnline.com. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2023. The TotalEnergies U20 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2023 will be played between 19 February and 11 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Nigeria trounce Ghana 2-0 in U20 AFCON qualifying tournament". Vanguard News Nigeria. 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Nigeria beat Ghana 2-0 in U20 AFCON qualifying tournament". Premium Times Nigeria. 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.