U-23 Africa Cup of Nations

About U-23 Africa Cup of Nations

History, Format, Organization, Media Coverage

The U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, also referred to as TotalEnergies U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, is a quadrennial soccer tournament for teams consisting of players under 23 years of age. The first edition of the tournament was held in 2011, and additional to making it a team to develop young footballers, it is also used as the qualifying process for an upcoming Summer Olympics tournament.

The proper tournament is usually held at two venues in the same country, where eight teams fight for a spot in the final round. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) draws all eight teams into two groups of four, where each squad faces its rivals once. The top two teams from each group reach the final stage, where all teams battle for one of three available spots to play in the Summer Olympics.

Speaking of those slots, the two finalists of the competition book their ticket for the Olympic Games, while those who lose the semifinals face each other in a third-place game, where the final spot for the Olympics is handed out. The team that loses the game enters an inter-confederation playoff where an additional spot in the tournament is available.

While there has not been a dominant team in the tournament, the biggest curiosity comes from the final match for the first four editions, as all of them have concluded with the same scoreline: 2-1.