Africa’s four representatives at the 2023 FIFA U17 World Cup are known following the conclusion of the quarter final matches at the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Thursday night.
Senegal, Burkina Faso, Morocco and Mali will fly the continent’s flag at the global showpiece event after the four sides sealed their places in the semi-finals of the competition being played in Algeria.
Africa has four slots at the tournament and with the TotalEnergies U17 AFCON serving as the qualification, the teams that reach the semi-finals will represent the continent at the global event.
Of the teams qualified, Mali is the most experienced, having qualified five times previously. This is their sixth qualification.
Their best performance was in 2015 when they lost to African rivals Nigeria in the final. Their last qualification was in 2017 in India when they finished fourth.
They reached the quarter finals in 1997 and 2001 and exited in the group stage in 1999.
Burkina Faso are meanwhile going back to the global stage for the first time since their last qualification in 2011 when they exited in the group stages. They have qualified for the World Cup four times in total and their best ever performance was in 2001 when they finished third after beating Argentina 2-0 in the play-off.
Morocco are meanwhile qualifying for the World Cup for the second time in their history, having made their debut in 2013 when they when they reached the round of 16.
Senegal have qualified for the World Cup for the second time in their history, after making their debut in 2019 following Guinea’s elimination.
In their maiden campaign, they reached the round of 16 after finishing second in their group. They lost 2-1 to Spain in the knockout phase.
