The Final Draw for the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Morocco 2025 will take place on Thursday, at the CAF headquarters in Cairo. The draw begins at 1:45 p.m. local time and will be broadcast live on CAF TV, according to a statement from CAF.
Former Mali international football star Adama Coulibaly and ex-Senegal star Souleymane Camara will assist with the draw as the tournament is heading for an expanded format. Sixteen teams will compete from March 30 to April 19, 2025, and a record 10 African nations will qualify for the 48-team FIFA Under-17 World Cup, which will take place in Qatar from November 5-27, 2025.
Morocco, as the host nation, leads the list of qualified teams, which also includes Angola, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gambia, Mali, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and two teams from the UNIFFAC region yet to be determined.
The teams will be divided into four groups of four (Groups A, B, C, and D). As the host, Morocco automatically takes the A1 spot in Group A. Reigning champions Senegal will be in position C1, Burkina Faso (third-place finisher in 2023) lands in B1, and Mali (fourth in 2023) will be in D1.
The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals and secure their place at the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup. The remaining two World Cup spots will be determined through play-off matches between third-placed teams.
The draw will use four separate pots:
- Pot 1: Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gambia, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, UNIFFAC 1, UNIFFAC 2, Zambia.
- Pot 2: Positions A2, B2, C2, D2.
- Pot 3: Positions A3, B3, C3, D3.
- Pot 4: Positions A4, B4, C4, D4.