U-17 Africa Cup of Nations: DRC placed in Group B

Kinshasa, April 8^th, 2026 (CPA). – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Under-17 Leopards 
have been placed in Group B following the draw for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) football tournament on Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt, according to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) website. “Following the random draw for the Under-17 Men’s African Cup of Nations (CAN), scheduled to take place from May 13^th to June 2^nd, 2026, in Morocco, and organised on Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt, DRC Leopards have been placed in Group B, alongside Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Uganda,” it is read. According to the source, DRC will be competing for the first time alongside the former winners of this competition, Ivory Coast (in 2013) and Cameroon (in 2019). Believing the source, a total of 16 teams, divided into four different groups, will take part in the first round of this continental tournament, at the end of which the top two teams will qualify for the quarter-finals, thereby securing their place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, scheduled for 2027 in Qatar. Furthermore, the teams placed third in their groups will play two play-off matches to determine the final two qualifiers. It is worth reporting that, during the final phase of this planet-wide U-17 football competition in Qatar in 2027, Africa will be represented for the first time, with ten nations. Below are the various groups for the 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco: (Group A): Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia; (Group B): Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Uganda, DRC; (Group C): Mali, Angola, Tanzania, Mozambique; (Group D): Senegal, South Africa, Algeria, Ghana.