The 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-20 football competition which decided the participating teams for the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.
Players born 1 January 2001 or later were eligible to participate in the competition. A total of twelve teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Mauritania who qualified automatically as hosts.[1]
47 of the 54 CAF members entered the qualifying tournament of their zone, including the hosts Mauritania, which also participated in qualification despite automatically qualified for the final tournament.
This was the first edition in Africa U-20 Cup of Nations to have expanded to 12 teams instead of eight. Each of the six zones received two spots in the final tournament.[2]
The qualifying competition was split into regional competitions, with the teams entering the qualifying tournament of their zone.[3] The final arrangements of the zonal qualifiers were decided later due to the delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The schedule of each qualifying zone was as follows.
Zone
Group stage
Knockout stage
West A Zone
20–25 November 2020
27–29 November 2020
Central-East Zone
22–27 November 2020
30 November–2 December 2020
Originally set to be played at the beginning of October/November 2020 in Sudan
South Zone
3–9 December 2020
11–13 December 2020
Originally set to be played in Mauritius in the same time period
West B Zone
5–12 December 2020
15–19 December 2020
Originally from 12 to 26 September 2020 in Burkina Faso
Central Zone
15–19 December 2020
22 December 2020
Postponed, originally set to be played at the beginning of/mid October 2020
Tunisia hosted the 2020 UNAF U-20 Tournament, which also served as the qualifiers for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, between 15 and 27 December 2020. The matches were played at Radès (Stade Olympique de Radès) and Tunis (Stade El Menzah).
The draw for the fixtures was held on 30 November 2020.[5] The five teams were placed in one group, with the winners and the runners-up qualifying for the final tournament.
^On 19 December 2020, Egypt were forced to withdraw from the competition after they were unable to play their first two matches due to a number of players testing positive for the SARS-2 coronavirus. After their withdrawal from the competition, Egypt's results were deleted from the calculations of the final group rankings.[6][7]
The draw for the group stage was held on 6 November 2020.[10][11] The seven teams were drawn into two groups of three and four teams. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
The WAFU-UFOA Zone B qualifiers for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations were initially planned to be hosted by Burkina Faso, but were later shifted to Togo due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the matches scheduled to be played between 18 November–2 December. On 7 November, Togo announced that they would not be able to host the tournament due to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the country, with the outbreak located in the Lomé area.[13]
On 17 November, it was announced that the regional qualifiers would now be played in Benin between 5 and 19 December. The draw was also announced on the same day. The matches were played at Porto-Novo (Stade Charles de Gaulle) and Cotonou (Stade René Pleven).[14][15]
The UNIFFAC qualifiers for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations were held in Equatorial Guinea between 15 and 22 December 2020. The matches were played at Malabo (Estadio de Malabo).[16][17]
The CECAFA qualifiers for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations were initially planned to be hosted by Sudan in October–November 2020 but were then later shifted and held in Tanzania between 22 November–2 December 2020.[19] The matches were played at Karatu (Black Rhino Academy) and Arusha (Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium).[20]
All the 11 teams were drawn into 3 groups, 2 groups of 4 teams and 1 group of 3 teams. The winners of each group and the best runners-up advanced to the semi-finals.
^On 14 November 2020, Rwanda withdrew from the qualifiers after discussions between their sports ministry and the education ministry. The statement issued read that "Since after a long time in break due to the COVID-19, schools have just reopened and the students can't miss the school for the competition. Most of the U-20 players are students who need to be in school."[21]
Abdul Hamisi Suleiman
Ivan Bogere (5 goals each)
Morocco 
Tunisia (H) 
Libya 
Algeria 
Egypt 
Senegal (H) 
Gambia 
Sierra Leone 
Guinea 
Guinea-Bissau 
Mali 
Mauritania 
Niger 
Burkina Faso 
Benin (H) 
Togo 
Ivory Coast 
Ghana 
Nigeria 
Central African Republic 
Equatorial Guinea (H) 
Chad 
Cameroon 
Congo 
DR Congo 
Djibouti 
Somalia 
Rwanda 
South Sudan 
Burundi 
Eritrea 
Kenya 
Ethiopia 
Sudan 
Mozambique 
South Africa (H) 
Zimbabwe 
Lesotho 
Zambia 
Namibia 
Malawi 
Comoros 
Angola 
Eswatini 
Botswana