The Council for East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) has opened the Accreditation process for the 2026 U-17 AFCON Qualifiers that will be staged in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa in Ethiopia from 15th November – 2nd December, 2025.

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Hosts Ethiopia will tussle it out against Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan and Rwanda in Group A when the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) CECAFA qualifiers takes center stage next month.

The draw for the Zonal qualifiers was conducted on Friday afternoon at the FUFA FM studio in Mengo, Uganda.

Andrew Jackson Oryada, the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Head of Marketing and Communication who conducted the draw said the 10 team tournament will run from November 15^th to December 2 at the Abebe Bikila Stadium and the Dire Dawa Stadium.

“We are happy that once again we have a platform created by CAF for the youngsters to play International Football at Zonal level, the the best teams qualify for the African level and final the FIFA U-17 World Cup,” noted Oryada.

While group A will be based at the Abebe Bikila Stadium. Group B which has the defending champions Uganda, Tanzania, Djibouti, Sudan and Burundi will be based at the Dire Dawa Stadium.

The best two teams from each group will qualify to play in the semi final stage. The losers at the semi final stage will tussle it out for the bronze medal, while the winner play in the final.

The champions, first runner up and second runner up will qualify to represent the CECAFA Zone at the TotalEnergies AFCON 2026.

A: Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda

B: Uganda, Tanzania, Djibouti, Sudan, Burundi

The draw for the CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) CECAFA qualifiers will take place in Kampala on October 31^th, 2025.

Jean Sseninde, the CECAFA Interim Executive Director confirmed that the draw will be conducted on Friday afternoon at the FUFA TV studio in Kampala.

Ten teams will take part in the competition to be hosted by Ethiopia from November 15^th to December 2nd, 2025 at the Abebe Bikila Stadium, and the Dire Dawa Stadium.

Defending champions Uganda and hosts Ethiopia will be ranked top in each group. Each groups will have five teams and the best two teams from each group will qualify for the semi final stage.

The other teams that will take part in the qualifiers include; Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti.

Ten teams have confirmed participation in the TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2026 CECAFA qualifiers.

Yusuf Mossi, the CECAFA Competitions Manager confirmed to Cecafaonline on Friday that ten Member Associations have entered their teams.

“We closed the registration late last month and I can confirm that ten teams will take part in the qualifiers to be hosted by Ethiopia,” added Mossi.

He explained that the qualifiers have been scheduled to take place November 15-30^th. “We might adjust the dates and make the announcement soon,” added Mossi.

Six teams played in the 2025 CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) CECAFA qualifiers which saw hosts Uganda emerge champions.

At the CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) ten teams including Uganda qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2025 to take place in Qatar this November.

Teams that have confirmed

Ethiopia

Uganda

Sudan

South Sudan

Rwanda

Burundi

Tanzania

Somalia

Djibouti

Kenya