1997 African Youth Championship

1997 African Youth Championship
بطولة أفريقيا لكرة القدم للشباب 1997
Tournament details
Host country	Morocco
Dates	23 March - 5 April
Teams	8
Final positions
Champions	Morocco (1st title)
Runners-up	South Africa
Third place	Ivory Coast
Fourth place	Ghana
	← 1995 1999 →

The African Youth Championship 1997 was held in Morocco. It also served as qualification for the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship.

QualificationEdit

Morocco qualified automatically as hosts.^[1]

First roundEdit

28/29 Sep 1996:
           Algeria       0-2 Tunisia
           Mali          3-0 Mauritania
           Burkina Faso  0-0 Guinea
           Ghana         2-0 Senegal
           Nigeria       5-1 Chad
           Sudan         2-0 Kenya
           Benin         0-1 Ivory Coast
           Egypt         5-0 Ethiopia
           Reunion       0-2 Zimbabwe
           South Africa  2-0 Mauritius
           Angola        3-1 Botswana
           Tanzania      w/o Burundi           [Burundi suspended by CAF following a coup d'état]
           Cameroon      w/o Togo              [Togo withdrew]
           Zambia        w/o Malawi            [Malawi withdrew]

19/20 Oct 1996:
           Tunisia       1-3 Algeria           [agg. 3-3, Algeria on away goals]
           Guinea        1-1 Burkina Faso      [agg. 1-1, Burkina Faso on away goals]
           Senegal       2-3 Ghana             [agg. 2-5]
           Chad          2-1 Nigeria           [agg. 3-6]
           Kenya         1-0 Sudan             [agg. 1-2]
           Ethiopia      5-0 Egypt             [agg. 5-5, penalties 1-2]
           Zimbabwe      5-0 Reunion           [agg. 7-0]
           Mauritius     1-3 South Africa      [agg. 1-5]
           Botswana      1-2 Angola            [agg. 2-5]

Second roundEdit

21/22 Dec 1996:
           Mali          3-2 Algeria
           Nigeria       2-1 Sudan
           Ivory Coast   5-3 Cameroon
           Burkina Faso  1-1 Ghana
           Egypt         2-1 Zimbabwe
           South Africa  3-0 Tanzania
           Zambia        1-0 Angola

 3/5 Jan 1997:
           Algeria        -  Mali              [Mali qualified]
           Sudan          -  Nigeria           [Sudan qualified]
           Cameroon       -  Ivory Coast       [Ivory Coast qualified]
           Ghana          -  Burkina Faso      [Ghana qualified]
           Zimbabwe       -  Egypt             [Egypt qualified]
           Tanzania      0-1 South Africa      [agg. 0-4]
           Angola        0-1 Zambia            [agg. 0-2]

TeamsEdit

Last year's finalists Burundi were disqualified in the qualifying tournament. Eight teams entered the tournament:

Ivory Coast
Egypt
Ghana
Mali
Morocco (host)
South Africa
Sudan
Zambia

Group stageEdit

Group AEdit

Teams	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Ghana	3	3	0	0	6	0	+6	9
Morocco	3	1	1	1	2	1	+1	4
Egypt	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
Sudan	3	0	0	3	1	8	–7	0


23 March	Morocco	0–0	Egypt
	Sudan	0–4	Ghana
25 March	Egypt	0–1	Ghana
	Morocco	2–0	Sudan
27 March	Egypt	2–1	Sudan
	Morocco	0–1	Ghana

Group BEdit

Teams	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Ivory Coast	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	7
South Africa	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
Zambia	3	0	2	1	4	5	–1	2
Mali	3	0	1	2	4	8	–4	1


24 March	Mali	2–2	Zambia
	South Africa	0–1	Ivory Coast
26 March	Zambia	1–1	Ivory Coast
	Mali	1–2	South Africa
28 March	South Africa	2–1	Zambia
	Ivory Coast	4–1	Mali

SemifinalsEdit

2 April 1997

Ghana	1 – 1	South Africa

Penalties
	3 – 4

Fès

2 April 1997

Morocco	2 – 1	Ivory Coast

Fès

Third place matchEdit

5 April 1997

Ivory Coast	2 – 0	Ghana

Meknès

FinalEdit

5 April 1997

Morocco	1 – 0	South Africa

Meknès

1997 African Youth Championship
Morocco First title

Qualification to World Youth ChampionshipEdit

The four best performing teams qualified for the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship.

ReferencesEdit

^ "African U-21 Championship 1997".

External linksEdit

Results by RSSSF

[1] "African U-21 Championship 1997".

[1]