South Africa handed 'backdoor' qualification for 2025 U-17 AFCON

(Photo via COSAFA media)

The South African U17 National Team (Amajimbos) has been handed automatic qualification for the 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

They will represent Southern Africa alongside 2024 COSAFA U-17 Championship finalists Zambia and Angola.

This comes after the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) executive committee increased the number of nations competing in the continental showpiece from 12 to 16.

The decision was also made in light of the FIFA U-17 World Cup’s expansion, which has given Africa ten slots, meaning that all the quarterfinalists at the junior AFCON will qualify.

South Africa lost 1-2 to Zambia in the COSAFA Youth Championships semi-finals and failed to qualify for the 2025 CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations in December 2024. (Photo via SAFA media)

South Africa was unable to qualify for the tournament after losing to Zambia in the Cosafa Championship semifinals in December last year but will travel to the Ivory Coast as the third-best team in the regional final.

The 2025 CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations will be held in Morocco from 30 March to 19 April 2025.

Calvin Kaumba Chikenge February 7, 2025

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Calvin Kaumba Chikenge is an award-winning Zambian multimedia sports journalist well known for his exclusive stories and feature writing. He was voted 2023/24 MTN/FAZ Super League journalist of the year. In addition to reporting on sports for Spring TV, he interned for the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper. He is the current Ballon d'Or juror and has contributed to numerous international publications, including the Guardian in the UK, and is the editor of BolaNews.