Everything you need to know about the 2025 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations: who will play, where and when the matches will take place
Liam Garcia
Dailysports's expert
On April 27, the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations will kick off, which will not only determine the champion of the tournament but also Africa's representatives at the World Cup. The Dailysports team has prepared all the essential information about this tournament for you.
Who are the participants of the tournament?
The qualifying tournament took place in the fall of 2024. In it, 48 teams were divided into six zones based on regional principles, according to the different sub-confederations that are part of CAF.
At the time of qualification, the Egyptian national team, where the tournament will be held, was not the host, so they had to go through the qualification sieve. In addition to them, 12 more teams will play: Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, DR Congo, CAR, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Zambia.
Note that the Senegal national team is the current tournament winner, which was held in 2023. There are also two debutants: Sierra Leone and Kenya.
Additionally, the initial list of participants included the Congo national team, but due to government interference in the federation's affairs, the team was disqualified from participation, and the CAR team replaced them.
Where will the matches take place?
Initially, the host was supposed to be Côte d'Ivoire, but in March 2025, the country refused to hold the tournament, automatically losing the direct spot as the host. They were immediately replaced by Egypt, which also vied for the hosting rights.
Thus, four stadiums were determined to host the tournament, two of them in Cairo (International Stadium and June 30 Stadium). One hosting stadium is located in Ismailia (Suez Canal Stadium) and another in Suez (Suez Stadium).
What is the tournament format?
The 13 participating teams were divided into three groups. Group A has five teams, while groups B and C have four each. The top two teams from each group, along with the two best-ranked third-place teams, will advance to the playoffs.
Then it will proceed to a standard knockout tournament starting with the quarter-finals. Note that all semi-finalists of the tournament will earn the right to represent Africa at the U-20 World Cup in Chile, as CAF has secured four spots in the global tournament.
When will the matches take place?
The tournament kicks off on April 27 with matches in Group A, as it has five teams. Groups B and C have four teams each, so their matches will start later, on May 1 and 2, respectively.
The group stage will last until May 9 inclusive. The quarter-final matches will be held on May 12, the semi-finals on May 15, and the final and third-place match on May 18.
