2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations
4th edition of U-23 AFCON
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The 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 4th edition of the quadrennial African football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for its male national teams consisting of players under 23 years of age. It was held in Morocco between 24 June and 8 July 2023.[2][3] It was the second time that Morocco hosted the tournament, as they were the inaugural hosts back in 2011.
| كأس الأمم الأفريقية تحت 23 سنة 2023 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Morocco |
| Dates | 24 June – 8 July |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venues | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Morocco (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Egypt |
| Third place |  Mali |
| Fourth place |  Guinea |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 39 (2.44 per match) |
| Top scorers | (3 goals each)[1] |
| Best player | Ibrahim Adel[1] |
| Best goalkeeper | Hamza Alaa[1] |
| Fair play award | Guinea[1] |
← 2019 2027 → | |
The finalists and third-place playoff winner of this edition of the tournament qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Paris while the 4th-placed team will play the AFC–CAF playoff to decide the final Olympic slot.
Egypt were the defending champions, but failed to defend their title after a 2–1 loss to hosts Morocco in the final, although both were guaranteed qualification to the Olympic football tournament alongside Mali who won their third-place match against Guinea, who would later also qualify for the Olympics after emerging victorious in the playoff against the 4th-placed team from Asia, Indonesia. With the win, Morocco repeated the feat achieved at the 2018 African Nations Championship by hosting and winning a tournament at the same time.
Qualification
Morocco qualified automatically as hosts, while the remaining 7 spots were determined by the qualifying rounds which took place on a home-and-away two-legged basis from 21 September 2022 to 28 March 2023.
Qualified teams
The following teams qualified for the group stage.
| Team | Date of qualification | Appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco (hosts) | 7 July 2022 | 2nd | 2011 | Runners-up (2011) |
| Egypt | 26 March 2023 | 4th | 2019 | Champions (2019) |
 Congo | 27 March 2023 | 1st | None | Debut |
 Gabon | 28 March 2023 | 2nd | 2011 | Champions (2011) |
 Ghana | 28 March 2023 | 2nd | 2019 | Fourth place (2019) |
| Guinea | 28 March 2023 | 1st | None | Debut |
| Mali | 28 March 2023 | 3rd | 2019 | Group stage (2015, 2019) |
 Niger | 28 March 2023 | 1st | None | Debut |
Venues
The matches were contested at two venues; the Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier and the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
| Tangier | Rabat |
|---|---|
| Ibn Batouta Stadium | Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium |
| Capacity: 65,000 | Capacity: 53,000 |
 |
 |
Squads
Draw
The draw was held on 5 May 2023 at 17:00 CET (UTC+1) at the Mohammed VI Football Academy in Salé.[4] The 8 teams were drawn into two groups of four teams, with hosts Morocco seeded in Group A (position A1) and the defending champions Egypt seeded in Group B (position B1). The remaining 6 teams were allocated to two pots based on the results of the previous tournament edition and were drawn to the remaining positions.
Match officials
Referees
Clement Franklin Kpan
Mahmoud Nagy
Pierre Ghislain Atcho
Jalal Jayed
Omar Abdulkadir Artan
Abongile Tom
Adalbert Diouf
Youcef Gamouh- Patrice Mebiame
Lamin Jammeh
Muhammad Elmabrouk
Assistant Referees
Stephen Yiembe
Joel Wonka Doe- Sami Halal
Styven Moutsassi- Abdessamad Abertoune
Wael Hannachi- Adel Abane
Jhonathan Ahonto Koffi
Dimbiniaina Andriatianarivelo
Youssef Mahmoud
Igho Hope- Hamza Naciri
Video Assistant Referees
Maria Rivet- Mohamed Hussien
- Dahane Beida
Letticia Antonella Wiana- Mustapha Ghorbal
- Haytem Guirat
- Peter Waweru
- Adil Zourak
Group stage
The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
- Tiebreakers
Teams were ranked according to points; 3 for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a loss. If tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied in the order given to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 68):[5]
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- If more than two teams were tied and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Drawing of lots.
All times are local, CET (UTC+1).
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morocco (H) |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Guinea |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Ghana |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 4 | |
| 4 | Congo |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 0 |
| Morocco | 5–1 | Ghana |
|---|---|---|
|
Report | S. Adams  43' |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Mali |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | |
| 3 | Niger |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Gabon |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0 |
| Niger | 0–2 | Mali |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Knockout stage
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 4 July – Rabat | ||||||
| Morocco (p) | 2 (4) | |||||
| 8 July – Rabat | ||||||
| Mali | 2 (3) | |||||
| Morocco (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||
| 4 July – Tangier | ||||||
| Egypt | 1 | |||||
| Egypt | 1 | |||||
| Guinea | 0 | |||||
| Third-place match | ||||||
| 7 July – Tangier | ||||||
| Mali (p) | 0 (4) | |||||
| Guinea | 0 (3) | |||||
Semi-finals
The winners qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Third-place match
The winner (Mali) joined the finalists in qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics and the loser (Guinea) will play in the AFC–CAF play-off.
Final
Winners
| 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations champions |
|---|
 Morocco First title |
Final ranking
As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Morocco (H) |
5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 13 | Champions |
 |
Egypt |
5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 10 | Runners-up |
 |
Mali |
5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 8 | Third place |
| 4 | Guinea |
5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | Fourth place |
| 5 | Niger |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 4 | Eliminated in Group stage |
| 6 | Ghana |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 4 | |
| 7 | Congo |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 0 | |
| 8 | Gabon |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0 |
(H) Hosts
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of this edition of the tournament:
| Top Scorer | Best Player | Best Goalkeeper | Fair Play Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abde Ezzalzouli (3 goals, 3 assists)[1] |
Ibrahim Adel[1] |
Hamza Alaa[1] |
Guinea[1] |
Team of the tournament
The team of the tournament was announced by the CAF after the final.[6]
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hamza Alaa |
Ibrahima Cisse Fodé Doucouré Hossam Abdelmaguid Zakaria El Ouahdi |
Mamadou Sangare Amar Hamdy Ismael Saibari |
Ibrahim Adel Osama Faisal Abde Ezzalzouli |
Goalscorers
There were 39 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 2.44 goals per match.
3 goals
2 goals
- Yann Ngatse
- Mahmoud Saber
Cheickna Doumbia- Mamadou Sangare
1 goal
- Reich Triomphe Kokolo
- Ibrahim Adel
- Osama Faisal
- Mohamed Shehata Mahmoud
- Emmanuel Ovono
Salim Adams- Ernest Nuamah
Algassime Bah- Aguibou Camara
- Ibrahima Breze Fofana
- Salifou Soumah
- Mamady Diambou
- Issoufi Maïga
- Alhassane Tamboura
- Zakaria El Ouahdi
- Amine El Ouazzani
- Amir Richardson
- Ismael Saibari
- Younes Taha
- Oussama Targhalline
Abdoul Moumouni
1 own goal
- Jacques Bowamba (against Guinea)
Qualified teams for the 2024 Summer Olympics
The following four teams from CAF qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympic men's football tournament in France.