UFOA B U17 tournament: Burkina Faso face Benin in opening match

The UFOA B U17 tournament, which will determine the zone’s qualifiers for the CAN U17, begins on 10 October with hosts Burkina Faso facing Benin.

The full fixture schedule was released by the regional football organisation on Wednesday. Burkina Faso will welcome the six other teams in the zone for the competition, which runs until 23 October.

The tournament will feature Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Niger alongside the hosts. All seven nations will be competing for a place in the final phase of the CAN U17.

The opening match will see Burkina Faso take on Benin, while the other Group A fixture will be Ghana against Togo. In Group B, Cote d’Ivoire will meet Niger before Nigeria face Cote d’Ivoire in a key contest.

The group stage is scheduled to run until 17 October. The two highest-ranked teams in each group will progress to the semi-finals, with the winners of those matches securing qualification for the CAN U17.

The tournament schedule is:

– 15:00 – Burkina Faso v Benin – 18:00 – Ghana v Togo – 16:00 – Cote d’Ivoire v Niger – 15:00 – Benin v Ghana – 18:00 – Togo v Burkina Faso

14 October

– 16:00 – Niger v Nigeria

16 October

– 16:00 – Burkina Faso v Ghana – 16:00 – Togo v Benin – 16:00 – Nigeria v Cote d’Ivoire

The semi-final line-up will be determined by the group standings. The first semi-final will be played at 15:00 between the winners of Group A and the runners-up in Group B.

At 19:00, the winners of Group B will face the runners-up in Group A in the second semi-final.

The third-place match is scheduled for 15:00, followed by the final at 19:00.