Two teams from the CECAFA Zone Uganda and Tanzania have been placed in Group A ahead of the TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025.

During the draw conducted on Thursday in Cairo, Egypt, the CECAFA Zonal champions Uganda have been placed with Tanzania, hosts Morocco and Zambia. In the final of the Zonal qualifiers Uganda stopped Tanzania 2-1.

The expanded tournament which will feature 16 teams is selected for March 30^th to April 19^th, 2025. The best 10 teams will qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup to take place in Qatar in November.

During the draw conducted by former Mali international ⁠Adama Coulibaly and ex-Senegal star Souleymane Camara will act as draw assistants, another team from the CECAFA Zone Somalia was placed in Group C alongside defending champions Senegal, Gambia and Tunisia.

The 2011 champions Burkina Faso are placed in Group B alongside the champion from UNIFFAC, South Africa and Egypt, while Group D has Mali, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire and the second team in the UNIFFAC qualifiers.

Group A: Morocco, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia

Group B: Burkina Faso, UNIFAC 1, South Africa, Egypt

Group C: Senegal, Gambia, Somalia, Tunisia

Group D: Mali, Angola, Cote D’Ivoire, UNIFFAC 2

Somalia has been included as one of the teams that will feature in the TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025.

The Somalian team which finished third in the Zonal CECAFA qualifiers after stopping South Sudan 1-0 in the play-off late last year has been included by CAF together with Gambia from the WAFU-UFOA Zone A.

The CECAFA Zone will be represented by Uganda, Tanzania and Somalia during the competition which runs March 30^th to April 19^th, 2025 in Morocco. The final draw for the competition will take place on February 13^th in Cairo, Egypt.

The expanded tournament will see 16 teams compete, with a record 10 African nations to qualify for the 48-team FIFA U-17 World Cup that will be staged in Qatar from November 5-27^th, 2025.

Teams to be drawn

Morocco (host), Angola, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt,     Gambia, Mali, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania,    Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and one team each UNIFFAC and UNIFFAC.

_{The head coach of Somalia’s U-17 team, Nur Mohamed has said playing at the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has been the best ground for exposure for his team.}

_{Somalia, the CECAFA U-17 reigning champions failed to make it to the knock out stage at the ongoing U-17 AFCON in Algeria.}

_{Nur Mohamed’s team kick started the Group A campaign with a 2-0 defeat to hosts Algeria, before they settled for a 1-1 draw against Congo Brazzaville. Somalia lost their last group match 2-0 to Senegal who have won all their three matches ahead of the knock out stage.}

_{“Playing at the U-17 AFCON in Algeria has been a very good experience for my players because it is the first time all of them were playing at such a stage. The players and we the technical team have benefited a lot playing being part of of such a competition and we shall keep working hard to improve,” said the head coach.}

_{Nur Mohamed made it clear that they lost some of the matches because of lack of experience, but added that the other teams were not far ahead of them. “With this kind of exposure our players are now more motivated to even perform well and qualify for other top competitions,” added the coach.}

_{The President of the Somalia Football Federation (SFF), Ali Abdi Mohamed also said although the U-17 team had failed to get to the knock out stage, they had worked hard to try and represent the country well. “We shall keep working hard to make sure we develop and promote all our national teams to make sure they perform well in international competitions,” added the SFF President.}

_{CECAFA representatives Somalia picked their first point when they played to a 1-1 draw against Congo Brazzaville on Tuesday night at the on-going TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).}

_{After losing their opening Group A match 2-0 to hosts Algeria, coach Nur Mohamed Amin’s team came all out determined to try and prove a point.}

_{Dini Dahir gave Somalia the lead after 32 minutes at the Nelson Mandela Stadium. Dahir capitalized on a good through ball pass from Idrii Aden and gave the Congo Brazzaville goalkeeper no chance.}

_{After the interval the Congo Brazzaville team pushed forward and leveled matters after 57 minutes through Ayel Wumba Niati.}

_{Somalia pushed forward and created several other scoring chances, but failed to put them away. “We had many chances to score more goals, but my players were not sharp enough,” said the Somalia coach who added that they need to go all out and try their luck against Senegal.}

_{Somalia remain bottom of Group A with 1 point, while Senegal who beat Congo Brazzaville 1-0 and edged Algeria 3-0 are top with 6 points.}

_{The Somalia team will now travel to the town of Constantine to take on Senegal on May 5th, while Congo Brazzaville face hosts Algeria in Algiers.}