| Tourney Name: | Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualification |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Country: | Egypt (North Zone) |
| Country2: | Mauritania (West A Zone) |
| Country3: | Niger (West B Zone) |
| Country4: | Congo (Central Zone) |
| Country5: | Sudan (Central-East Zone) |
| Country6: | Eswatini (South Zone) |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Top Scorer: | Danilson Makokisa (5 goals) |
| Prevseason: | 2021 |
| Nextseason: | 2025 |
The 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-20 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.
Players born 1 January 2003 or later were eligible to participate in the competition. A total of twelve teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Egypt who qualified automatically as hosts.[1]
| Zone | Spots | width=550 | Teams entering qualification | Did not enter | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Zone (UNAF) | 1 spot + hosts | valign=top | valign=top |
| ||
| West A Zone (WAFU-UFOA A) | 2 spot | valign=top |
| valign=top | ||
| West B Zone (WAFU-UFOA B) | 2 spots | valign=top |
| valign=top | ||
| Central Zone (UNIFFAC) | 2 spots | valign=top |
| valign=top | ||
| Central-East Zone (CECAFA) | 2 spots | valign=top |
| valign=top | ||
| South Zone (COSAFA) | 2 spots | valign=top |
| valign=top |
The qualifying competition was split into regional competitions, with the teams entering the qualifying tournament of their zone. The schedule of each qualifying zone was as follows.
| Zone | Group stage | Knockout stage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| West B Zone[2] | 7–14 May 2022 | 17–20 May 2022 | |
| West A Zone[3] | 28 August–6 September 2022 | 9–11 September 2022 | |
| South Zone[4] | 7–12 October 2022 | 14–16 October 2022 | |
| North Zone[5] | 18–24 October 2022 | ||
| Central-East Zone[6] | 28 October–5 November 2022 | 8–11 November 2022 | |
| Central Zone[7] | 8–14 December 2022 |
See main article: 2022 UNAF U-20 Tournament. The 2022 UNAF U-20 Tournament, which also served as the qualifiers for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, took place between 18 and 24 October 2022 in Suez, Egypt.[5] The draw for the fixtures was held on 20 July 2022.[8] [9] The four teams were placed in one group, with the winner qualifying for the final tournament.
All times are local, EGY (UTC+2).
--------
The WAFU-UFOA Zone A qualifiers for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations were hosted by Mauritania with the matches played between 28 August–11 September 2022.[3] The matches were played at Nouakchott, Mauritania.[10]
All times are local, GMT (UTC+0).
The seven teams were drawn into two groups of four and five teams. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
--------
----------------
Winners qualified for 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.
The WAFU-UFOA Zone B qualifiers for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations were hosted by Niger with the matches played between 7–20 May 2022. The draw was announced on 15 April 2022.[11]
All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).
The seven teams were drawn into two groups of three and four teams. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
--------
--------
The UNIFFAC qualifiers for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations were held in Congo between 8–14 December 2022.[7]
The seven participating teams were drawn into two groups of four and three teams, with Congo, DR Congo, the Central African Republic and São Tomé and Príncipe drawn in Group A; and Cameroon, Chad and Equatorial Guinea drawn into Group B. However, on 25 November, São Tomé and Príncipe withdrew from the competition, with Chad and Equatorial Guinea following suit.
The four remaining teams were then placed in one group with the winners and the runners-up qualifying for the final tournament.[12] [13]
All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).
--------
See main article: 2022 CECAFA U-20 Championship. The CECAFA qualifiers for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations were hosted by Sudan between 28 October and 11 November 2022.[14] [6] The draw for the fixtures was held on 11 October 2022.[15]
All times are local, CAT (UTC+2).
The seven teams were drawn into two groups of three and four teams. The winners and the runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
--------
--------
See main article: 2022 COSAFA U-20 Cup. The COSAFA qualifiers for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations were hosted by Eswatini between 7–16 October 2022.[4]
All times are local, SAST (UTC+2).
The twelve teams were drawn into three groups of four teams.[16] The winners from each group and the best runners-up advanced to the semi-finals.
--------
--------
--------
Winners qualified for 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.
The following 12 teams qualify for the final tournament.[17]
| Team | Zone | Qualified on | data-sort-type="number" | Previous appearances in Africa U-20 Cup of Nations1 only final tournament era (since 1991) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (hosts) | 11 (1991, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017) | |||
| 2 (2005, 2013) | ||||
| 11 (1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019) | ||||
| 3 (2007, 2011, 2021) | ||||
| 5 (1993, 1995, 2015, 2017, 2019) | ||||
| 1 (2021) | ||||
| 7 (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2007, 2015, 2017) | ||||
| 1 (2021) | ||||
| 1 (2021) | ||||
| 0 (debut) | ||||
| 1 (2021) | ||||
| 2 (2007, 2015) |
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.