2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification

Tournament details
Dates	12 November 2018 – 10 September 2019
Teams	43 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	66
Goals scored	157 (2.38 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Fashion Sakala (5 goals)
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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.

Notes

• Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
• (D): Disqualified after draw
• (W): Withdrew after draw

Did not enter

Format

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]

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.

	First round						Second round						Third round
	Angola	—	—	w/o
	Namibia	—	—
							Angola	1	0	1
							South Africa	3	3	6
													South Africa	5	0	5
													Zimbabwe	0	0	0
	Mozambique (a)	0	1	1
	Eswatini	0	1	1
							Mozambique	0	0	0
							Zimbabwe	0	2	2

	First round						Second round						Third round
	Botswana	1	1	2
	Malawi	2	1	3
							Malawi	0	0	0
							Zambia	1	1	2
													Zambia	2	3	5
													Congo	1	3	4
	Burundi (a)	2	1	3
	Tanzania	0	3	3
							Burundi	0	1	1
							Congo	0	2	2

	First round						Second round						Third round
	Ghana	5	0	5
	Togo	1	1	2
							Ghana	4	0	4
							Gabon	0	0	0
													Ghana	1	1	2
													Algeria	1	0	1
	Equatorial Guinea	1	3	4
	São Tomé and Príncipe	1	1	2
							Equatorial Guinea	0	1	1
							Algeria	0	3	3

	First round						Second round						Third round
	Cameroon	3	1	4
	Chad	0	1	1
							Cameroon	—	—	w/o
							Sierra Leone	—	—
													Cameroon (a)	1	1	2
													Tunisia	0	2	2
	Uganda	1	0	1
	South Sudan	0	2	2
							South Sudan	0	0	0
							Tunisia	0	1	1

	First round						Second round						Third round
	Burkina Faso	1	1	2
	Niger	1	3	4
							Niger	1	1	2
							Ivory Coast	2	6	8
													Ivory Coast (a)	0	2	2
													Guinea	1	1	2
	Mauritania	1	1	2
	Guinea	2	4	6
							Guinea	2	0	2
							Senegal	1	0	1

	First round						Second round						Third round
	Seychelles	1	0	1
	Sudan	1	1	2
							Sudan	2	0	2
							Kenya	0	0	0
	Kenya	5	3	8
	Mauritius	0	1	1
													Sudan	1	0	1
													Nigeria	0	5	5
	Libya	—	—	w/o
	Gambia	—	—
							Libya	2	0	2
							Nigeria	0	4	4

	First round						Second round						Third round
	Rwanda	0	0	0
	DR Congo	0	5	5
							DR Congo[note 1]	2	0	2 w/o
							Morocco	0	1	1 w/o
													Morocco	1	0	1
													Mali	1	1	2
	Ethiopia	4	0	4
	Somalia	0	1	1
							Ethiopia	1	0	1
							Mali	1	4	5

First round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Angola	w/o	Namibia	—	—
Mozambique	1–1 (a)	Eswatini	0–0	1–1
Botswana	2–3	Malawi	1–2	1–1
Burundi	3–3 (a)	Tanzania	2–0	1–3
Ghana	5–2	Togo	5–1	0–1
Equatorial Guinea	4–2	São Tomé and Príncipe	1–1	3–1
Cameroon	4–1	Chad	3–0	1–1
Uganda	1–2	South Sudan	1–0	0–2
Burkina Faso	2–4	Niger	1–1	1–3
Mauritania	2–6	Guinea	1–2	1–4
Seychelles	1–2	Sudan	1–1	0–1
Kenya	8–1	Mauritius	5–0	3–1
Libya	w/o	Gambia	—	—
Rwanda	0–5	DR Congo	0–0	0–5
Ethiopia	4–1	Somalia	4–0	0–1

16 November 2018 (2018-11-16)

16:00 UTC+1

Angola	Cancelled	Namibia
	Report

Estádio 11 de Novembro, Luanda

Referee: Blaise Ngwa (Cameroon)

20 November 2018 (2018-11-20)

19:00 UTC+2

Namibia	Cancelled	Angola
	Report

Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek

Referee: Lazard Tsiba (Congo)

Angola won on walkover after Namibia withdrew.^[5]