The U-20 Africa Cup of Nations also called TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsoring reason (previously known as the African Youth Championship or the African U-20 Championship) is the main international youth football competition for CAF nations, and is competed for by under 20 year olds. It is held every two years with the top 4 teams qualifying for the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

History

From 1979 until 1989, the African representatives were determined purely on a home and away qualifying basis without a final tournament, with the African champions determined through the same qualification. Since 1991 there has been a qualifying stage followed by a final tournament played by 8 teams in a chosen country. On 6 August 2015, the CAF Executive Committee decided to change the name of the tournament from the African Youth Championship to the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, similar to the senior's version, Africa Cup of Nations. In July 2016, Total has secured an eight-year sponsorship package from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to support 10 of its principal competitions, including the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations Champions League, renamed Total U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.

Tournament summary

African U-21 Qualifying for World Cup

African U-21 Cup of Nations

African U-21 Championship

African U-20 Championship

Africa U-20 Cup of Nations

Performance by nation

Source for winners and runners-up: RSSSF :* = ''As hosts''

Participating nations

;Legend * – Champions * – Runners-up * – Third place * – Fourth place * – Semi-finals *QF – Quarter-finals *GS – Group stage *PR – Preliminary round *1R – First round *2R – Second round *q – Qualified * — Hosts * × – Did not enter * • – Did not qualify * × – Withdrew before qualification * — Withdrew after qualification * — Disqualified after qualification

Participating nations by year of debut

Participating nations by Debut (Until 1989, counted Round 1, after 1991 counting Final 16)

Before 1989

*1979: , , , , , , , , , , *1981: , , , , *1983: , , , , , *1985: , *1987: *1989: , ,

After 1991

*1991: , , , , (hosts), *1993: , (hosts), , *1995: , , *1997: , *1999: , *2003: , *2005: , (hosts) *2007: , (hosts) *2009: (hosts) *2011: ''No new team'' *2013: , *2015: ''No new team'' *2017: ''No new team'' *2019: (hosts) *2021: , (hosts), , , , ,

Player awards

FIFA U-20 World Cup performances

;Legend *1st – Champions *2nd – Runners-up *3rd – Third place *4th – Fourth place *QF – Quarterfinals *R2 – Round 2 *R1 – Round 1 * – Hosts *q – Qualified for upcoming tournament

References

External links

*
Results of all tournaments by RSSSF
{{Africa U-20 Cup of Nations awards U-20 Cup of Nations