| Tourney Name: | Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualification |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Dates: | 1 April – 24 July 2016 |
| Num Teams: | 54 |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Matches: | 57 |
| Goals: | 127 |
| Prevseason: | 2015 |
| Nextseason: | 2019 |
The qualification phase of the 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations decided the participating teams of the final tournament. A total of eight teams will play in the final tournament, to be hosted by Zambia.
The draws were conducted during the CAF Executive Committee meeting held on Friday, 5 February 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda.[1] [2]
| No Participation | Teams | Number of teams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No participation | 13 | ||
| First round entrants | 24 | ||
| Second round entrants | 16 | ||
| Final tournament entrants |
| 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).[3]
The seven winners of the third round qualified for the final tournament.
The first legs were played on 1, 2 and 3 April, and the second legs were played on 22, 23 and 24 April 2016.
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----Tunisia won 4–1 on aggregate.----Ethiopia won 4–1 on aggregate.----Gambia won 4–0 on aggregate.----Guinea won 3–1 on aggregate.----Mauritania won 3–2 on aggregate.----Sudan advanced after Kenya were disqualified.----Burundi advanced after DR Congo withdrew.[4] ----Uganda won 3–2 on aggregate. However, Rwanda advanced after Uganda were disqualified.----Angola advanced after Chad withdrew.----2–2 on aggregate. Mozambique won on away goals.----Namibia won 4–2 on aggregate.----Zimbabwe won 2–1 on aggregate.
The first legs were played on 20, 21 and 22 May, and the second legs were played on 10, 11, 12 and 13 June 2016.
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----Senegal won 4–1 on aggregate.----Ghana won 5–2 on aggregate.----1–1 on aggregate. Gambia won 7–6 on penalties.----2–2 on aggregate. Guinea won on away goals.----3–3 on aggregate. Burkina Faso won on away goals.----Mali won 7–1 on aggregate.----Sudan advanced after Malawi withdrew.----Nigeria won 3–1 on aggregate.----1–1 on aggregate. Egypt won 3–2 on penalties.----Angola won 3–1 on aggregate.----Lesotho won 2–1 on aggregate.----South Africa won 2–0 on aggregate.----Cameroon won 3–0 on aggregate.----Libya advanced due to FIFA's suspension of Benin.
The first legs were played on 8, 9 and 10 July, and the second legs were played on 22, 23 and 24 July 2016.
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----Senegal won 3–2 on aggregate.----Guinea won 2–1 on aggregate.----Mali won 2–0 on aggregate.----5–5 on aggregate. Sudan won on away goals.----Egypt won 5–0 on aggregate.----South Africa won 5–0 on aggregate.----Cameroon won 3–1 on aggregate.