The 2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-20 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.
Players born 1 January 1999 or later are eligible to participate in the competition. A total of eight teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Niger who qualified automatically as hosts.[1]
Teams
Apart from Niger, the remaining 53 members of CAF were eligible to enter the qualifying competition, and a total of 40 national teams were in the qualifying draw, which was announced on 26 February 2018.[2][3]
Qualification ties are played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score is tied after the second leg, the away goals rule is applied, and if still tied, the penalty shoot-out (no extra time) is used to determine the winner.[4]
Schedule
The schedule of the qualifying rounds is as follows.[3]
Round
Leg
Date
First round
First leg
30 March – 1 April 2018
Second leg
20–22 April 2018
Second round
First leg
11–13 May 2018
Second leg
18–20 May 2018
Third round
First leg
13–15 July 2018
Second leg
20–22 July 2018
Bracket
The bracket of the draw was announced by the CAF on 26 February 2018.[2][3]
The seven winners of the third round qualify for the final tournament.
^Libya played their home leg in Tunisia due to the Libyan Civil War.
^ abThe first leg between Ghana and Benin was postponed to 4 August due to the impasse between the Ghana Football Association and the government. The second leg was also moved to the following weekend.[6]
Abdoul Tapsoba
Eric Bekale Biyoghe
Steven Mukwala (4 goals each)
