2025 U17 World Cup, Qatar (first annual 48-team edition)

[amenina]

Concacaf U-17 Men’s Qualifiers, Matchday 1 results, 7 February

https://www.concacaf.com/en/under-17s-m ... ualifiers/

Group A
Anguilla 0-3 Turks and Caicos Islands
Bermuda 1-6 Curaçao
Bye: Canada

Group B
British Virgin Islands 4-0 Sint Maarten
Trinidad and Tobago 1-1 Guyana
Bye: Costa Rica

Group C
Belize 7-0 Dominica
Nicaragua 6-0 Barbados
Bye: Mexico

[amenina]

https://www.cafonline.com/inside-caf/ne ... petitions/

TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (“U-17 AFCON”), Morocco 2025

The Executive Committee approved the new format of the TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (“U-17 AFCON”) Morocco 2025 qualifiers increasing the number of participating teams from 12 to 16.

The CAF have confirmed how to allocate the four additional slots.

CECAFA and COSAFA each receive an additional slot, possibly because they have the most members.

The zone of the host country and the title holder also receive an additional slot. Since Morocco are the host country and Senegal are the title holder, the slots go to UNAF and WAFU A.

So the four additional teams which qualify will be Somalia (CECAFA), South Africa (COSAFA; losing semi-finalists with better record as third place match was not played), Tunisia (UNAF), and Gambia (WAFU A), which all finished third in their respective zones.

https://www.panafricafootball.com/post/ ... ng-nations

https://cosafa.com/south-africa-added-t ... als-field/

https://www.tap.info.tn/en/Portal-Sport ... isia-s-u17

https://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/sport ... pend-teams

U17 AFCON final tournament
Qualified teams by zone

WAFU B - Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire
WAFU A - Senegal, Mali, Gambia
UNAF - Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia
COSAFA - Zambia, Angola, South Africa
CECAFA - Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia
UNIFFAC - 2 teams TBC (16-28 February, Douala, Cameroon)

https://x.com/MickyJnr__/status/1886498392823435539

[amenina]

Concacaf U-17 Men’s Qualifiers, Matchday 2 results, 9 February

https://www.concacaf.com/en/under-17s-m ... ualifiers/

Group A
Turks and Caicos Islands 0-6 Canada
Bermuda 3-1 Anguilla
Bye: Curaçao

Group B
Trinidad and Tobago 3-1 British Virgin Islands
Sint Maarten 0-12 Costa Rica
Bye: Guyana

Group C
Nicaragua 1-0 Belize
Dominica 0-8 Mexico
Bye: Barbados

[amenina]

Concacaf U-17 Men’s Qualifiers, Matchday 1 results, 10 February

https://www.concacaf.com/en/under-17s-m ... ualifiers/

Group D
Puerto Rico 3-0 Bonaire
Honduras 3-1 Saint Martin

Group F
Cuba 3-1 Saint Kitts and Nevis
United States 22-0 U.S. Virgin Islands

Group G
Dominican Republic 1-0 Aruba
Panama 8-0 Grenada

Group H
Jamaica 3-1 Saint Lucia
El Salvador 8-0 Cayman Islands

[Tazmania]

Looking at those results, Concacaf needs league-style U17 and U20 qualifiers.

[Shing]

Is Concacaf U-17 Men’s Qualifiers only for FIFA U-17 World Cup? It is interesting non-FIFA teams are allowed to participate. In Group D, there are 4 teams and 2 of them are non-FIFA teams

[amenina]

Is Concacaf U-17 Men’s Qualifiers only for FIFA U-17 World Cup? It is interesting non-FIFA teams are allowed to participate. In Group D, there are 4 teams and 2 of them are non-FIFA teams

Concacaf have always allowed non-FIFA teams to play in all tournaments except the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, even those that are used for qualification of FIFA tournaments. Naturally, if a non-FIFA team occupy one of the qualifying positions, they would not play in the FIFA tournament and the berth would be taken by another CONCACAF team.

For this edition of the Concacaf U-17 Men’s Qualifiers, 3 of the 6 non-FIFA members participate: Bonaire, Saint Martin, and Sint Maarten, but the three "bigger" teams French Guiana, Guadeloupe, and Martinique do not. Curiously, with the new format of the U-17 Men's Qualifiers due to the expansion of the U-17 World Cup, there are no more Concacaf U-17 final tournament to decide the overall champions, so those non-FIFA teams are practically just playing for "development" without a tangible reward even in the unlikely chance of winning their group.

[Tazmania]

Is that a significant format change? I thought Concacaf qualified its representatives via its U20 competition.

[amenina]

Concacaf U-17 Men’s Qualifiers

https://www.concacaf.com/en/under-17s-m ... ualifiers/

Results, 11 February

Group A, Matchday 3
Curaçao 2-0 Turks and Caicos Islands
Canada 8-0 Anguilla
Bye: Bermuda

Group B, Matchday 3
Guyana 3-0 Sint Maarten
Costa Rica 5-0 British Virgin Islands
Bye: Trinidad and Tobago

Group C, Matchday 3
Barbados 1-0 Dominica
Mexico 3-0 Belize
Bye: Nicaragua

Group E, Matchday 1
Haiti 5-0 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Guatemala 2-1 Antigua and Barbuda

[amenina]

Is that a significant format change? I thought Concacaf qualified its representatives via its U20 competition.

Prior to this edition, the U-17 tournament consisted of two rounds: qualifying round and final tournament, where the final tournament decided the overall champion and also the teams which qualified for the World Cup. Now, there is only the qualifying round, and the group winners qualify for the World Cup. But the format of the youth tournaments have changed many times in history, and there were also previous editions where there were no overall champion, and the final qualifying round only decided who qualified for the World Cup.

And there have always been separate youth tournaments for U20 and U17 competitions. I think you are confusing with the Olympic qualification situation. CONCACAF have abolished their Olympic men's qualifying tournament, so they are currently using the U20 competition to decide their representative for the next Olympics. So for example, the 2026 U20 tournament should decide who qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

[amenina]

Concacaf U-17 Men’s Qualifiers

Standings after matches on 11 February

[Tazmania]

Is that a significant format change? I thought Concacaf qualified its representatives via its U20 competition.

Prior to this edition, the U-17 tournament consisted of two rounds: qualifying round and final tournament, where the final tournament decided the overall champion and also the teams which qualified for the World Cup. Now, there is only the qualifying round, and the group winners qualify for the World Cup. But the format of the youth tournaments have changed many times in history, and there were also previous editions where there were no overall champion, and the final qualifying round only decided who qualified for the World Cup.

And there have always been separate youth tournaments for U20 and U17 competitions. I think you are confusing with the Olympic qualification situation. CONCACAF have abolished their Olympic men's qualifying tournament, so they are currently using the U20 competition to decide their representative for the next Olympics. So for example, the 2026 U20 tournament should decide who qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Sorry, I meant U17 competition.

I wasn't aware that before they had also just used senior WC-style qualifying groups to qualify teams for the FIFA youth competitions.

Yes, I remember that for the 2024 Paris Olympics the Concacaf men's team qualified via the 2022 Concacaf U20 Championship.

[amenina]

https://www.cafonline.com/caf-u-17-afri ... -in-cairo/

Final Draw for the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025 to take place on 13 February at CAF headquarters in Cairo

Published: Wednesday, 12 February 2025

The Final Draw for the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Morocco 2025 will take place on Thursday, 13 February in Cairo at 13h45 local time (11h45 GMT).

The Final Draw will be broadcast live on CAF TV and former Mali international ⁠Adama Coulibaly and ex-Senegal star Souleymane Camara will act as draw assistants.

The expanded tournament will see 16 teams compete from 30 March – 19 April, 2025, with a record 10 African nations to qualify for the 48-team 2025 FIFA Under-17 World Cup that will be staged in Qatar from 5-27 November, 2025.

Teams qualified for the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025

Morocco (host)
Angola
Burkina Faso
Cote d’Ivoire
Egypt
Gambia
Mali
Senegal
Somalia
South Africa
Tanzania
Tunisia
Uganda
UNIFFAC 1*
UNIFFAC 2*
Zambia
* To be determined with qualification tournament still to be played.

Format of the tournament

The teams will be divided into four Groups (A, B, C and D), each consisting of four teams. Morocco, as the host country, is automatically preassigned to position A1 in Group A.

The remainder of the seeds for each group have been determined via the final placings in the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 AFCON, Algeria 2023.

Holders Senegal take up position C1, Burkina Faso (third in 2023) are in position B1 and Mali (fourth in 2023) take position D1.

The top two teams in each group qualify for the quarter-finals, and the 2025 FIFA World Cup, before the competition continues in a knockout format.

The remaining two qualification places for African nations at the FIFA World Cup will be decided via play-off matches between the teams that finish third in their groups.

Tournament procedures

The draw will be made using four separate pots. The other 12 teams outside of the four seeded sides will be in Pot 1:

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

The teams will be drawn to the positions A2, B2, C2, D2, A3, B3, C3, D3, A4, B4, C4, & D4.

For more information on the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025, visit www.cafonline.com.

[amenina]

Is that a significant format change? I thought Concacaf qualified its representatives via its U20 competition.

Prior to this edition, the U-17 tournament consisted of two rounds: qualifying round and final tournament, where the final tournament decided the overall champion and also the teams which qualified for the World Cup. Now, there is only the qualifying round, and the group winners qualify for the World Cup. But the format of the youth tournaments have changed many times in history, and there were also previous editions where there were no overall champion, and the final qualifying round only decided who qualified for the World Cup.

And there have always been separate youth tournaments for U20 and U17 competitions. I think you are confusing with the Olympic qualification situation. CONCACAF have abolished their Olympic men's qualifying tournament, so they are currently using the U20 competition to decide their representative for the next Olympics. So for example, the 2026 U20 tournament should decide who qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Sorry, I meant U17 competition.

I wasn't aware that before they had also just used senior WC-style qualifying groups to qualify teams for the FIFA youth competitions.

Yes, I remember that for the 2024 Paris Olympics the Concacaf men's team qualified via the 2022 Concacaf U20 Championship.

Between 1999 and 2007, there were also no overall U17 champions in CONCACAF, as the final round groups were also hosted in different countries.

Interestingly, if you read the FIFA documents which advocate for the 48-team U17 World Cup, one of the potential “benefits” of the annual expanded tournament is that the confederations could supposedly streamline their qualifying competitions so that the number of rounds each team needed to play to qualify for the World Cup could be reduced. Yet it appears that CONCACAF is the only one to do it as now only one round instead of two (qualifying round and final tournament) is needed to decide their U17 World Cup representatives .

There are some changes in the U17 qualifying tournaments of the other confederations.

AFC: While the final tournament will remain to be 16 teams, the 8 teams which reach the knockout stage and thus qualify for the World Cup will be exempted from the qualifying round of the next edition, so they will advance directly to the U17 Asian Cup final tournament.

CAF: The final tournament of the U17 AFCON has been expanded from 12 teams to 16 teams. The 8 quarter-finalists and the 2 play-off winners between group 3rd place teams will qualify for the World Cup.

CONMEBOL: There will be no more 6-team round-robin final round in the South American U17 championship. Instead the top two teams of each group will qualify directly for the World Cup and play knockout matches, while the 3rd and 4th place teams will also play knockout matches to decide the overall 5th to 7th place which also earn World Cup spots.

UEFA: We have discussed the changes of the Euro U17 in other threads. The final tournament is now back to 8 teams instead of the previously expanded 16 teams. And since UEFA have 11 teams qualifying, the upcoming round 2 qualifiers in March will actually serve as the World Cup qualifiers, with the 7 group winners and the 4 best 2nd place teams qualifying.

[Tazmania]

Thanks for the background information.

I also read the FIFA document for the future of its youth competitions but I didn't note that one of the advantages in making the U17WC an annual competition expanded to 48 teams was that the confederations could streamline their qualifying competitions. That probably relates to cost because the FIFA document noted that without FIFA's intervention the non-UEFA confederations wouldn't hold annual U17 NT competitions and so many young players would miss out on the benefits of playing U17 NT football.

I think UEFA expanded the U17 EURO Qualifiers - the Qualifiers for the U17WC will be Round 2 League A - because only the 28 teams which qualified for the Elite Round played six U17 games each year, while now every team plays six games in Leagues A and B.