| Tourney Name: | Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification |
| Year: | 2015 |
| Dates: | 24 April – 2 August |
| Num Teams: | 26 |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Matches: | 34 |
| Goals: | 69 |
| Top Scorer: |  Kahraba Adama Niane(4 goals each) |
| Prevseason: | 2011 |
| Nextseason: | 2019 |
The 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. Players born on or after 1 January 1993 were eligible to compete in the tournament.[1]
A total of eight teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Senegal who qualified automatically as hosts.[2]
The top three teams of the final tournament will qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Brazil.[3]
A total of 26 CAF member national teams entered the qualifying rounds.[4]
| Round | Teams entering round | No. of teams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First round | 10 | ||
| Second round | 9 | ||
| Third round | 7 | ||
| Qualifying rounds | Total | 26 | |
| Final tournament |
| 1 |
Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).[1]
The seven winners of the third round qualified for the final tournament.
The schedule of the qualifying rounds was as follows.[7] [4]
| Round | Leg | Date |
|---|---|---|
| First round | First leg | 24–26 April 2015 |
| Second leg | 8–10 May 2015 | |
| Second round | First leg | 22–24 May 2015 |
| Second leg | 29–31 May 2015 | |
| Third round | First leg | 17–19 July 2015 |
| Second leg | 31 July–2 August 2015 |
|}
Note: Guinea-Bissau and Libya withdrew.[8] Liberia played their home match in Ghana due to Ebola outbreak. Somalia played their home match in Djibouti (originally in Kenya) due to security concerns.[9]
Ghana won 7–1 on aggregate.----Sierra Leone won on walkover.----Mauritania won on walkover.----4–4 on aggregate. Botswana won on away goals.----Rwanda won 3–1 on aggregate.
|}
Note: Sierra Leone played their home match in Cameroon due to Ebola outbreak.
1–1 on aggregate. Congo won on penalties.----1–1 on aggregate. Sierra Leone won on away goals.----Mali won 4–2 on aggregate.----Zambia won 3–1 on aggregate.----Uganda won 4–1 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate. Zimbabwe won on away goals.----Tunisia won 3–0 on aggregate.
Winners qualified for 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.
|}
Note: Sierra Leone played their home match in Algeria due to Ebola outbreak (match also brought forward by a week).
Nigeria won 2–1 on aggregate.----Algeria won 2–0 on aggregate.----Mali won 3–0 on aggregate.----0–0 on aggregate. Zambia won on penalties.----Egypt won 6–1 on aggregate.----South Africa won 4–1 on aggregate.----Tunisia won 2–1 on aggregate.
The following eight teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (hosts) | (2011) | ||
| (2011) | |||
| (2011) | |||
| (debut) | |||
| (debut) | |||
| (2011) | |||
| (2011) | |||
| (debut) |
1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
Joseph Minala Mohamed Salem Ramadan Sobhi
Kennedy Ashia Ebo Andoh Richard Gadze Baba Mensah Tamimu Montari
John Ndirangu
Van-Dave Harmon Moctar Cissé Adama Traoré
Achraf Bencharki
Isaïe Songa Yannick Mukunzi Kevin Muhire Dominique Savio Nshuti
Ibrahim Sorie Barrie
Abbas Mohammed
Muzi Dlamini Mxolisi Mkhontfo
Ghailene Chaalali Haythem Jouini Slimane Kchok Yassine Meriah Edem Rjaïbi
Muzamir Mutyaba John Ssemazi
Karl Mboudou (playing against Mali)