U-20 AFCON, U-17 AFCON and Women's Futsal AFCON: draw day at CAF

Women's Futsal AFCON 2025 draw

Scheduled to take place in Morocco from 22 to 30 April 2025, the first edition of the Women's Futsal AFCON will feature nine national teams from the continent. The tournament will also serve as a qualifier for the Women's Futsal World Cup, which will be held in the Philippines from 21 November to 7 December 2025. Only the two African teams that reach the AFCON final will book their place at the World Cup.

Morocco (hosts), Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Guinea, Madagascar, Namibia, Senegal and Tanzania will compete in this inaugural edition.

Women's Futsal AFCON draw procedure

The nine nations will be split into three groups of three. Morocco, as host nation, are already placed in A1. The winners of each group and the best runner-up will go through to the semi-finals. A play-off will decide fifth place, while the lowest-ranked teams will face off for 7th and 9th places.

The draw will be made from four pots:

• Pot 1: Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Guinea, Madagascar, Namibia, Senegal, Tanzania
• Pot 2: Positions B1 and C1
• Pot 3: Positions A2, B2 and C2
• Pot 4: Positions A3, B3 and C3

Morocco are already assigned to A1, and the other teams will be placed in the various groups during the draw.

U-17 AFCON 2025 draw

A few minutes later, at 11:45 GMT, the U-17 AFCON draw will take place. That tournament will also be staged in Morocco, from 30 March to 19 April 2025. The competition will feature 16 teams and offer 10 places at the U-17 World Cup in Qatar (5 to 27 November), the first time Africa has had so many teams taking part.

Morocco (hosts), Angola, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Gambia, Mali, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and two UNIFFAC zone representatives, still to be determined, will take part in the finals of the U-17 AFCON.

The 16 teams will be split into four groups of four. Morocco (A1), Senegal (C1, holders), Burkina Faso (B1, third in 2023) and Mali (D1, fourth in 2023) are already placed as group heads.

The top two in each group will qualify directly for the quarter-finals and for the U-17 World Cup. The last two World Cup places will be decided by play-offs between the third-placed teams in each group.

U-17 AFCON draw procedures

The draw will use four pots:

• Pot 1: Angola, Ivory Coast, 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 Pot 1 teams will be drawn to fill the remaining positions in the groups.

U-20 AFCON 2025 draw

The last draw of the day is for the U-20 AFCON, which will be hosted by Ivory Coast from 26 April to 18 May 2025. The event will also be broadcast live from 12:25 GMT, and the 13 competing nations will find out their groups. The top four teams will qualify for the U-20 World Cup, which will take place in Chile from 27 September to 19 October 2025.

Ivory Coast (hosts), DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and a 2nd UNIFFAC zone representative will contest the tournament.

U-20 AFCON draw procedure

The 13 qualified teams will be split into three groups (A, B and C). Group A will have five teams, while Groups B and C will have four each. As host nation, Ivory Coast will automatically be placed in position A1 in Group A. The positioning of the other teams will be based on the final standings of the previous U-20 AFCON (Egypt 2023). Senegal, the holders, will be placed in position C1, while Nigeria, bronze medallists in 2023, will be assigned to position B1.

The second UNIFFAC zone representative has not yet been named because of FIFA's suspension of Congo. However, the team representing the zone will be included in Pot 1 (Tier 2), alongside Egypt and Zambia. These three teams will then be allocated to positions A2, B2 and C2.

After the group stage, the top two teams in each group and the two best third-placed sides will qualify for the quarter-finals, and the competition will continue in a knockout format. Draw procedure: the draw will be made using five separate pots:

• Pot 1: Egypt, UNIFFAC 2, Zambia (Tier 2)
• Pot 2: Ghana, DR Congo, Kenya, Morocco, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania
• Pot 3: Positions A2, B2 & C2
• Pot 4: Positions A3, B3 & C3
• Pot 5: Positions A4, B4 & C4

The Tier 2 teams (Pot 1) will be drawn first and placed in A2, B2 and C2. Then the other teams will be allocated to positions A3, B3, C3, A4, B4 and C4. Finally, the last remaining team will automatically be assigned to position A5.

With these draws, the road to the Women's Futsal AFCON, the U-20 AFCON and the U-17 AFCON 2025 will begin to take shape. The results will set the key match-ups that will define these tournaments.

Malick BAMBA