2020 African U-17 Women's World Cup qualification

2020 African U-17 Women's World Cup qualification
Tournament details
Dates10 January – 14 March 2020
(remaining matches cancelled)
Teams20 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played23
Goals scored101 (4.39 per match)
Top scorer(s)Ghana Ophelia Amponsah
Tanzania Aisha Masaka
Uganda Juliet Nalukenge (5 goals each)
← 2018
2022 →

The 2020 African U-17 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament was the 7th edition of the African U-17 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament, the biennial international youth football competition organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to determine which women's under-17 national teams from Africa qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Players born on or after 1 January 2003 were eligible to compete in the tournament.

Three teams would have qualified from this tournament for the 2021 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup (originally 2020 but postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic) in India as the CAF representatives.[1][2] However, FIFA announced on 17 November 2020 that this edition of the World Cup would be cancelled.[3] As a result, all remaining qualifying matches were cancelled.[4]

Draw

A total of 20 (out of 54) CAF member national teams entered the qualifying rounds. The draw was held on 10 May 2020 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[5][6][7][8]

  • In the preliminary round, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties, with teams divided into four pots based on their geographical zones and those in the same pot drawn to play against each other.
  • In the first round, the eight preliminary round winners and the four teams receiving byes to the first round were allocated into six ties based on the preliminary round tie numbers, with four preliminary round winners playing against the four teams receiving byes, and the other four preliminary round winners playing against each other.
  • In the second round, the six first round winners were allocated into three ties based on the first round tie numbers.
Bye to first round
(4 teams) 		Preliminary round entrants (16 teams)
Pot A
(4 from COSAFA) 		Pot B
(5 from CECAFA + 1 from UNAF) 		Pot C
(2 from UNIFFAC) 		Pot D
(3 from WAFU A + 1 from WAFU B)
Notes
  • Teams in bold qualified for the World Cup.
  • (W): Withdrew after draw
Did not enter

Format

Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule was applied, and if still tied, the penalty shoot-out (no extra time) was used to determine the winner.

Schedule

The schedule of the qualifying rounds was as follows.[7][9]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all second round matches, originally scheduled for 1–3 and 8–10 May 2020, had been postponed until further notice.[10] The CAF announced the new dates in July 2020.[11] However, in October 2020, CAF announced that all third round matches, rescheduled for 30 October – 1 November and 20–22 November 2020, were again postponed due to travel restrictions across parts of Africa as a result of COVID-19.[12] The CAF sent a letter to the member associations on 21 December 2020 confirming the cancellation of the qualifiers.[4]

Round Leg Date
Preliminary round First leg 10–12 January 2020
Second leg 24–26 January 2020
First round First leg 28 February–1 March 2020
Second leg 13–15 March 2020
Second round First leg 1–3 May 2020, postponed to 30 October – 1 November 2020, eventually cancelled
Second leg 15–17 May 2020, postponed to 20–22 November 2020, eventually cancelled

Bracket

The three winners of the second round would have qualified for the 2021 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.[6][7]

Preliminary round First round Second round
            
 Namibia — —
 Zambia — — w/o
 Zambia 2 0 2
 South Africa 0 3 3
 South Africa
 Morocco
 Botswana 5 2 7
 Zimbabwe 0 0 0
 Botswana 0 0 0
 Morocco 1 3 4
 Djibouti 0 0 0
 Morocco 7 7 14
Preliminary round First round Second round
            
 Tanzania 5 1 6
 Burundi 1 0 1
 Tanzania 2 0 2
 Uganda 1 5 6
 Uganda 2 3 5
 Ethiopia 0 1 1
 Uganda
 Cameroon
 São Tomé and Príncipe — — w/o
 DR Congo — —
 São Tomé and Príncipe 0 0 0
 Cameroon 4 6 10
Preliminary round First round Second round
            
 Liberia 4 5 9
 Niger 0 0 0
 Liberia 0 0 0
 Ghana 2 8 10
 Ghana
 Nigeria
 Guinea 5 3 8
 Guinea-Bissau 0 3 3
 Guinea 1 1 2
 Nigeria 6 5 11

Preliminary round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Namibia  w/o  Zambia — —
Botswana  7–0  Zimbabwe 5–0 2–0
Djibouti  0–14  Morocco 0–7 0–7
Tanzania  6–1  Burundi 5–1 1–0
Uganda  5–1  Ethiopia 2–0 3–1
São Tomé and Príncipe  w/o  DR Congo — —
Liberia  9–0  Niger 4–0 5–0
Guinea  8–3  Guinea-Bissau 5–0 3–3
Namibia Cancelled Zambia
Report (Soccerway)
Zambia Cancelled Namibia
Report (Soccerway)

Zambia won on walkover after Namibia withdrew, citing financial constraints.[13]

Botswana 5–0 Zimbabwe
 Report (Soccerway)
Zimbabwe 0–2 Botswana
Report (Soccerway)

Botswana won 7–0 on aggregate.

Djibouti 0–7 Morocco
Report (Soccerway)
Morocco 7–0 Djibouti
 Report (Soccerway)
Referee: Vincentia Amedome (Togo)

Morocco won 14–0 on aggregate.

Tanzania 5–1 Burundi
 Report (Soccerway)
Referee: Agnetta Napangor (Kenya)
Burundi 0–1 Tanzania
Report (Soccerway)

Tanzania won 6–1 on aggregate.

Uganda 2–0 Ethiopia
 Report (Soccerway)
Startimes Stadium, Kampala
Referee: Khadmallah Koko (Sudan)
Ethiopia 1–3 Uganda
 Report (Soccerway)
Referee: Aline Umutoni (Rwanda)

Uganda won 5–1 on aggregate.

DR Congo Cancelled São Tomé and Príncipe
Report (Soccerway)

São Tomé and Príncipe won on walkover after DR Congo did not appear for the first leg.[14][15]

Liberia 4–0 Niger
 Report (Soccerway)
Referee: Aïssata Boudy Lam (Mauritania)
Niger 0–5 Liberia
Report (Soccerway)
Referee: Bijou Mayinga (DR Congo)

Liberia won 9–0 on aggregate.

Guinea 5–0 Guinea-Bissau
 Report (Soccerway)
Guinea-Bissau 3–3 Guinea
 Report (Soccerway)

Guinea won 8–3 on aggregate.

First round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Zambia  2–3  South Africa 2–0 0–3
Botswana  0–4  Morocco 0–1 0–3 (awd.)
Tanzania  2–6  Uganda 2–1 0–5
São Tomé and Príncipe  0–10  Cameroon 0–4 0–6
Liberia  0–10  Ghana 0–2 0–8
Guinea  2–11  Nigeria 1–6 1–5
Zambia 2–0 South Africa
 Report (Soccerway)
South Africa 3–0 Zambia
 Report (Soccerway)

South Africa won 3–2 on aggregate.

Botswana 0–1 Morocco
Report (Soccerway)
Referee: Jonesia Rukyaa (Tanzania)
Morocco 3–0
Awarded		 Botswana
Report (Soccerway)
Referee: Sylvina Garnett (Liberia)

Morocco won 4–0 on aggregate and awarded as a 3–0 after Botswana did not appear for the second leg due to concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]

Tanzania 2–1 Uganda
 Report (Soccerway)
Referee: Ema Novo (Mozambique)
Uganda 5–0 Tanzania
 Report (Soccerway)
Startimes Stadium, Kampala
Attendance: 7,000

Uganda won 6–2 on aggregate.

Cameroon 6–0 São Tomé and Príncipe
 Report (Soccerway)
Stade de Ngoa-Ekellé, Yaoundé
Referee: Anaelle Omanda (Gabon)

Cameroon won 10–0 on aggregate.

Liberia 0–2 Ghana
Report (Soccerway)
Referee: Fatou Thioune (Senegal)
Ghana 8–0 Liberia
 Report (Soccerway)
Referee: Patience Madu (Nigeria)

Ghana won 10–0 on aggregate.

Guinea 1–6 Nigeria
 Report (Soccerway)
Nigeria 5–1 Guinea
 Report (Soccerway)
Attendance: 4,000

Nigeria won 11–1 on aggregate.

Second round

Winners would have qualified for 2021 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
South Africa  Match 15  Morocco — —
Uganda  Match 16  Cameroon — —
Ghana  Match 17  Nigeria — —

Goalscorers

There were 101 goals scored in 23 matches, for an average of 4.39 goals per match.

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Notes

  1. ^ Guinea's home match against Nigeria was postponed to 7 March 2020 due to a clash with the 2020 Guinean legislative election.[17]

References

  1. ^ Ahmadu, Samuel (4 December 2019). "U17 Women's World Cup 2020: African qualifying tournament dates, fixtures released". Goal. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Bureau of the FIFA Council decisions on FIFA events". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 12 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Update on FIFA Club World Cup 2020 and women's youth tournaments". FIFA.com. 17 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Cancelation of the FIFA U-17 & U-20 Women's World Cup -2020". Ghana Football Association. 21 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Draw 2022 U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifiers". CAF. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  6. ^ a b "CAF draws lots for the Total Women AFCON 2020 and preliminaries for FIFA U-17 & U-20 Women's World Cup 2020". CAF. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  7. ^ a b c "Fixtures for the U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifiers" (PDF). CAF. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Draw Procedures for the U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifiers" (PDF). CAF. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  9. ^ "African qualifiers FIFA U-17 WWC-2020" (PDF). CAF.
  10. ^ "Postponement of Interclubs semis & Women's qualifiers". CAF. 11 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Botswana in limbo as Caf confirms new African U17 and U20 Women's World Cup qualifiers schedule". goal.com. 10 July 2020.
  12. ^ "Caf postpones final 2021 African U17 Women's World Cup qualifiers". Goal.com. 19 October 2020.
  13. ^ "Namibia pulls out of World Cup Qualifier, hands Zambia victory on silver platter". FAZ. Lusaka Star. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  14. ^ @leopard243 (11 January 2020). "Sauf un improbable retournement de situation nos Léopards U17 dames n'effectueront pas le déplacement à Sao Tomé et Principe pour le compte du premier tour des éliminatoires de la Coupe du Monde U17" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ "RDC não se deslocou a São Tomé para jogo qualificável para CAN e Mundial Sub-17 em Futebol Feminino". STP-Press. 13 January 2020.
  16. ^ "Botswana : le gouvernement et la fédération de football en symbiose contre le Covid-19". afrik.com. 14 March 2020.
  17. ^ "U17 Women's World Cup Qualifier: Nigeria clash with Guinea postponed due to elections". Goal.com. 27 February 2020.