AFCON U17 2026: Road to glory set as Morocco, Senegal, Egypt and others eye final in thrilling knockout path

The path to the TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations final has been laid out, with a tightly packed knockout bracket confirming a dramatic journey to the championship match scheduled for June 2 at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium.

Hosts Morocco headline one side of the draw and will meet Cameroon in a highly anticipated quarter-final clash on May 24. The North Africans, buoyed by home support and strong group-stage form, are among the favourites to go all the way.

Elsewhere in the last eight, Senegal take on Mali, setting up a West African heavyweight battle with a semi-final place on the line. The winners of that tie will face either Ethiopia or Mozambique, who meet in a play-off-style quarter-final pathway.

On the opposite side of the bracket, Côte d’Ivoire face Egypt in another high-stakes quarter-final, with both sides targeting a deep run in the competition. The winner will then meet either Uganda or Ghana, two sides carrying strong ambitions of reaching the latter stages.

Uganda and Ghana’s meeting has also been classified as a crucial playoff encounter, with the winner advancing into the semi-final bracket alongside Algeria or Tanzania, who are also battling for progression in a tightly contested section of the draw.

The semi-finals are scheduled for May 28 and 31 at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium, setting up a rapid-fire conclusion to the tournament. The third-place playoff will follow on June 1, before attention turns to the grand final on June 2.

With continental qualification stakes often tied to the competition, every fixture carries added weight, and the bracket reflects a tournament finely poised between traditional powerhouses and emerging youth sides.

As the knockout phase approaches, the message is clear: there is no margin for error, and every match now brings teams one step closer to lifting Africa’s most prestigious youth trophy.