The 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualification is a men's under-17 football competition that decided the participating teams of the 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
Players born on 1 January 2009 or later were eligible to participate in the competition. The host country for the final stage of the edition is Morocco, appointed during the annual CAF Executive Committee meeting along the 2024 CAF Awards ceremony in Marrakesh, Morocco where CAF appointed the country as host.[1]
The WAFU-UFOA Zone A qualifiers for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations will be hosted by Mali with the matches played starting 5 October 2025. The matches will be played at Bamako, Mali.
The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
Tiebreakers
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 two teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 13):[2]
Points in head-to-head matches match between the two tied teams;
If more than two teams were tied, the following criteria were applied instead:
Points in matches between the tied teams;
Goal difference in matches between the tied teams;
Goals scored in matches between the tied teams;
If after applying all criteria above, two teams were still tied, the above criteria were again applied to matches played between the two teams in question. If this did not resolve the tie, the next three criteria were applied;
The WAFU-UFOA Zone B qualifiers for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations will be hosted by Ivory Coast with the matches played between 20 September and 3 October 2025, the draw was announced on 4 September 2025.[3]
The seven teams were drawn into two groups of three and four teams. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
Tiebreakers
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 two teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 13):[2]
Points in head-to-head matches match between the two tied teams;
If more than two teams were tied, the following criteria were applied instead:
Points in matches between the tied teams;
Goal difference in matches between the tied teams;
Goals scored in matches between the tied teams;
If after applying all criteria above, two teams were still tied, the above criteria were again applied to matches played between the two teams in question. If this did not resolve the tie, the next three criteria were applied;
The UNIFFAC qualifiers for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations will be held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 18–23 February 2026. The qualifying tournament draw was held on 4 February 2026. Six UNIFFAC members were originally going to compete in a single round-robin format with the top two teams qualifying for the final tournament. However, on 16 February, Congo withdrew from the competition due to a number of players being deemed overage by the MRI tests, on 18 February, Equatorial Guinea also withdrew for the same reasons.[4]
The four remaining teams were then placed in one group with the winners and the runners-up qualifying for the final tournament.[5][6]
Tiebreakers
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 two teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 13):[2]
Points in head-to-head matches match between the two tied teams;
If more than two teams were tied, the following criteria were applied instead:
Points in matches between the tied teams;
Goal difference in matches between the tied teams;
Goals scored in matches between the tied teams;
If after applying all criteria above, two teams were still tied, the above criteria were again applied to matches played between the two teams in question. If this did not resolve the tie, the next three criteria were applied;
The COSAFA qualifiers for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations were held in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 11 to 20 September 2024. The draw for the groups took place on 5 August 2025.
The qualification structure was as follows:
Group stage: The 12 teams were divided into three groups, with the group winners and the best runner-up advancing to the knockout stage.
Knockout stage: The four teams advancing from the second round competed in a three-match knockout round, with the winners of the semifinals qualifying for the final tournament.
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Algeria 
Egypt 
Libya (H)
Morocco 
Tunisia 
Guinea-Bissau 
Mali (H)
Gambia 
Liberia 
30', 78'
Guinea 
Senegal 
Mauritania 
Sierra Leone 
Ivory Coast (H)
Ghana 
Niger 
Togo 
Nigeria 
Burkina Faso 
Benin 
Cameroon 
DR Congo (H)
Central African Republic 
Gabon 
Ethiopia (H)
Kenya 
Somalia 
South Sudan 
Rwanda 
Tanzania 
Uganda 
Sudan 
Burundi 
Djibouti 
Mozambique 
Comoros 
Zimbabwe (H)
Eswatini 
South Africa 
Malawi 
Zambia 
Madagascar 
Angola 
Lesotho 
Botswana 
Mauritius 
