The 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-23 football competition, which decided the participating teams of the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.
Players born 1 January 1997 or later were eligible to participate in the competition. A total of eight teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Egypt who qualified automatically as hosts.[1] These matches also served as the first stage of the CAF qualifiers for the 2020 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Japan.
Teams
Apart from Egypt, the remaining 53 members of CAF were eligible to enter the qualifying competition, and a total of 43 national teams were in the qualifying draw, which was announced on 2 October 2018.[2] The 13 teams which had the best performance in the 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations final tournament and qualifying competition were given a bye to the second round.
Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away, two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, away goals rule was applied, and if still tied, penalty shoot-out (no extra time) was used to determine the winner.
Schedule
The schedule of the qualifying rounds was as follows.[3] All matches were played during the FIFA International Window. The third round was originally scheduled for 3–11 June 2019 but was rescheduled to 2–10 September 2019 due to the proximity of its initial dates to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations between 21 June and 19 July.[4]
Round
Leg
Date
First round
First leg
12–20 November 2018
Second leg
Second round
First leg
18–26 March 2019
Second leg
Third round
First leg
2–10 September 2019
Second leg
Bracket
The bracket of the draw was announced by the CAF on 2 October 2018.[2][3]
The seven winners of the third round qualified for the final tournament.
^ abDR Congo were disqualified for fielding an ineligible (overaged) player.
^ abThe matches between Ghana and Togo, originally scheduled for 16 and 20 November 2018, were postponed to 18 and 22 December 2018 due to Ghana hosting the 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations.[6]
^Somalia played their home leg in Djibouti due to the Somali Civil War.
^Libya played their home leg in Tunisia due to the Libyan Civil War.
