2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification

The 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. Players born on or after 1 January 1993 were eligible to compete in the tournament.[1]

Not to be confused with Football at the 2015 African Games – Men's qualification.
2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification
Tournament details
Dates24 April – 2 August 2015
Teams26 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played34
Goals scored69 (2.03 per match)
Top scorer(s) Kahraba
Adama Niane
(4 goals each)

A total of eight teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Senegal who qualified automatically as hosts.[2]

The top three teams of the final tournament will qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Brazil.[3]

Teams

A total of 26 CAF member national teams entered the qualifying rounds.[4]

Round Teams entering round No. of teams
First round
  •  Botswana
  •  Ghana
  •  Guinea-Bissau
  •  Kenya
  •  Liberia
  •  Libya
  •  Mauritania
  •  Rwanda
  •  Sierra Leone
  •  Somalia
 10
Second round
  •  Cameroon
  •  Congo
  •  Mali
  •  Sudan
  •  Swaziland
  •  Tunisia
  •  Uganda
  •  Zambia
  •  Zimbabwe
 9
Third round
7
Qualifying rounds Total 26
Final tournament 1
Notes
  • The final tournament was originally to be hosted by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After Senegal replaced them as hosts,[2] the CAF released an updated version of the draw. In the initial draw, Zimbabwe and Swaziland were to play each other in the first round, where the winner would play South Africa in the second round, where the winner would play Senegal in the third round. In the updated draw, Zimbabwe and Swaziland play each other in the second round, where the winner play South Africa in the third round.[4]
  • Namibia's U23 team manager Jakes Amaning said the Namibia Football Association did apply to take part in the tournament, but due to unforeseen circumstances its name did not appear in the CAF draw. The Confederation of African Football have said the Namibian application may not have been received due to a "technical error".[5] Although the draw took place on 20 September 2014, FIFA have set a deadline of 25 October for applicants.[6]

Format

Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).[1]

The seven winners of the third round qualified for the final tournament.

Schedule

The schedule of the qualifying rounds was as follows.[7][4]

Round Leg Date
First round First leg 24–26 April 2015
Second leg 8–10 May 2015
Second round First leg 22–24 May 2015
Second leg 29–31 May 2015
Third round First leg 17–19 July 2015
Second leg 31 July–2 August 2015

First round
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Ghana  7–1  Liberia 2–0 5–1
Guinea-Bissau  w/o  Sierra Leone — —
Libya  w/o  Mauritania — —
Botswana  4–4 (a)  Kenya 3–0 1–4
Rwanda  3–1  Somalia 2–0 1–1

Note: Guinea-Bissau and Libya withdrew.[8] Liberia played their home match in Ghana due to Ebola outbreak. Somalia played their home match in Djibouti (originally in Kenya) due to security concerns.[9]

Ghana 2–0 Liberia
Mohammed  28'
Ashia  65'		 Report
Referee: Benjamin Ekabatiem Ekabatiem Odey (Nigeria)
Liberia 1–5 Ghana
Harmond  34' Report Gadze  20'
Mensah  25'
Mohammed  39', 60'
Montari  77'
Referee: Antonio Manuel Fortes Rodrigues (Cape Verde)

Ghana won 7–1 on aggregate.

Guinea-Bissau Cancelled Sierra Leone
Report
Referee: Sekou Ahmed Toure (Guinea)
Sierra Leone Cancelled Guinea-Bissau
Report
Referee: Jerry S. Yekeh (Liberia)

Sierra Leone won on walkover.

Libya Cancelled Mauritania
Report
Mauritania Cancelled Libya
Report

Mauritania won on walkover.

Botswana 3–0 Kenya
Kebatho  66', 86'
Makgantai  67'		 Report
Referee: Norman Matemera (Zimbabwe)
Kenya 4–1 Botswana
Olunga  19', 36', 90'
Ndirangu  78'		 Report Kebatho  22'
Referee: Abdoul Karim Twagiramukiza (Rwanda)

4–4 on aggregate. Botswana won on away goals.

Rwanda 2–0 Somalia
Mukunzi  17'
Muhire  90+2'		 Report
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Waziri Sheha Waziri (Tanzania)
Somalia 1–1 Rwanda
Mohammed  90' Report Songa  4'
Referee: Gait Metodious Oting (South Sudan)

Rwanda won 3–1 on aggregate.

Second round
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Ghana  1–1 (4–5 p)  Congo 1–0 0–1
Sierra Leone  1–1 (a)  Cameroon 0–0 1–1
Mauritania  2–4  Mali 1–1 1–3
Botswana  1–3  Zambia 1–1 0–2
Rwanda  1–4  Uganda 1–2 0–2
Zimbabwe  2–2 (a)  Swaziland 0–0 2–2
Tunisia  3–0  Sudan 1–0 2–0

Note: Sierra Leone played their home match in Cameroon due to Ebola outbreak.

Ghana 1–0 Congo
Andoh  44' Report
Referee: Abou Coulibaly (Ivory Coast)
Congo 1–0 Ghana
Ganvoula  26' Report
Penalties
5–4
Referee: Henry Duvalier Mouandjo Kalla (Cameroon)

1–1 on aggregate. Congo won on penalties.

Sierra Leone 0–0 Cameroon
Report
Referee: Omar Sallah (Gambia)
Cameroon 1–1 Sierra Leone
Minala  33' Report Barrie  90' (pen.)
Referee: Idriss Biani (Chad)

1–1 on aggregate. Sierra Leone won on away goals.

Mauritania 1–1 Mali
Niass  63' Report Niane  88' (pen.)
Referee: Adil Zourak (Morocco)
Mali 3–1 Mauritania
Niane  3', 88' (pen.)
Cissé  69'		 Report Bagili  53'
Referee: Baba Leno (Guinea)

Mali won 4–2 on aggregate.

Botswana 1–1 Zambia
Mbaiwa  67' Report Chirwa  13'
Referee: Patrick Ngoleka (Malawi)
Zambia 2–0 Botswana
Kampamba  47'
Mubanga  55'		 Report
Referee: Jose Maria Rachide (Mozambique)

Zambia won 3–1 on aggregate.

Rwanda 1–2 Uganda
Nshuti  61' Report Miya  10'
Mutyaba  70'
Referee: Souleiman Ahmed Djamal (Djibouti)
Uganda 2–0 Rwanda
Ssemazi  61'
Miya  64'		 Report
Referee: Sabri Mohamed Fadul (Sudan)

Uganda won 4–1 on aggregate.

Zimbabwe 0–0 Swaziland
Report
Referee: Ganesh Chutooree (Mauritius)
Swaziland 2–2 Zimbabwe
Mkhontfo  40' (pen.)
Dlamini  60'		 Report Kadewere  56'
Pfumbidzai  80' (pen.)
Referee: Andofetra Avombitana Rakotojaona (Madagascar)

2–2 on aggregate. Zimbabwe won on away goals.

Tunisia 1–0 Sudan
Kchok  89' Report
Referee: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana (Burundi)
Sudan 0–2 Tunisia
Report Chaalali  23'
Meriah  66'
El Obeid Stadium, Al-Ubayyid
Referee: Mohamed El Hanafy (Egypt)

Tunisia won 3–0 on aggregate.

Third round

Winners qualified for 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Nigeria  2–1  Congo 2–1 0–0
Algeria  2–0  Sierra Leone 2–0 0–0
Gabon  0–3  Mali 0–1 0–2
Ivory Coast  0–0 (3–4 p)  Zambia 0–0 0–0
Egypt  6–1  Uganda 4–0 2–1
Zimbabwe  1–4  South Africa 1–1 0–3
Morocco  1–2  Tunisia 1–0 0–2

Note: Sierra Leone played their home match in Algeria due to Ebola outbreak (match also brought forward by a week).

Nigeria 2–1 Congo
Ajayi  48', 54' Report Nkounkou  66'
Referee: Anthony Ogwayo (Kenya)
Congo 0–0 Nigeria
Report
Referee: Mohamed Maarouf (Egypt)

Nigeria won 2–1 on aggregate.

Algeria 2–0 Sierra Leone
Amokrane  8', 21' Report
Referee: Wahid Tamuni Salah (Libya)
Sierra Leone 0–0 Algeria
Report
Referee: Daouda Gueye (Senegal)

Algeria won 2–0 on aggregate.

Gabon 0–1 Mali
Report Niane  77'
Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)
Mali 2–0 Gabon
Mboudou  68' (o.g.)
Traoré  89'		 Report
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

Mali won 3–0 on aggregate.

Ivory Coast 0–0 Zambia
Report
Referee: Boukari Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso)
Zambia 0–0 Ivory Coast
Report
Penalties
Chirwa
Kampamba
Chepeshi
B. Sakala
Zulu
S. Sakala
Daka 		4–3 Kessié
Assalé
Diarra
Coulibaly
Maiga
Ahoulou
N'Guessan
Referee: Tirelo Mositwane (Botswana)

0–0 on aggregate. Zambia won on penalties.

Egypt 4–0 Uganda
Salem  7'
Kahraba  68', 90+2'
Sobhi  79'		 Report
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Hassan Mohamed Hagi (Somalia)
Uganda 1–2 Egypt
Miya  77' Report Kahraba  18', 56'
Referee: Jean Marc Ganamandji (Central African Republic)

Egypt won 6–1 on aggregate.

Zimbabwe 1–1 South Africa
Musona  84' (pen.) Report Dolly  66'
Referee: Stanley Hachiwa (Zambia)
South Africa 3–0 Zimbabwe
Dolly  2', 90'
Motupa  9'		 Report
Referee: Simanga Pritchard Nhleko (Swaziland)

South Africa won 4–1 on aggregate.

Morocco 1–0 Tunisia
Bencharki  45' (pen.) Report
Referee: Fidel Gomes (Guinea-Bissau)
Tunisia 2–0 Morocco
Rjaïbi  57'
Jouini  63'		 Report
Referee: Mohamed Hamada (Mauritania)

Tunisia won 2–1 on aggregate.

Qualified teams

The following eight teams qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament1
 Senegal (hosts)14 March 2015[2]1 (2011)
 Nigeria2 August 20151 (2011)
 Algeria25 July 20151 (2011)
 Mali2 August 20150 (debut)
 Zambia1 August 20150 (debut)
 Egypt1 August 20151 (2011)
 South Africa1 August 20151 (2011)
 Tunisia1 August 20150 (debut)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

Goalscorers
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Own goal
  • Karl Mboudou (playing against Mali)

References
  1. "Regulations U23 AFCON English" (PDF). CAF.
  2. "Macky Sall accepts to host U-23 Championship in December". CAF. 14 March 2015.
  3. "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.
  4. "Fixtures of the Qualifiers of U-23 African Championship" (PDF). CAF. 15 April 2015.
  5. "Namibian U23 Side Not Drawn for Olympics Qualifiers". Windhoek: Namibian U23 Side Not Drawn for Olympics Qualifiers  – via AllAfrica (subscription required) . 27 September 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  6. "Zimbabwe: Pasuwa Welcomes CAF Under-23 Draw". NewZimbabwe  – via AllAfrica.com (subscription required) . 24 September 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  7. "CAF Full Calendar". CAFonline.com. 28 February 2015. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  8. "African journey to Rio de Janeiro takes-off". CAF. 22 April 2015.
  9. "Djibouti to host Somalia, Rwanda tie". SuperSport. 6 May 2015.
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