Brian Ssenyondo, the head coach of Uganda’s Under-17 national team, has stated that his team’s goal is to qualify for this year’s FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Following the draw at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo last week, the Uganda Cubs have been assigned to Group A alongside hosts Morocco, neighbours Tanzania, and Zambia.
The U-17 AFCON, which serves as a qualifier for the ten African teams, will take place from March 30 to April 19, 2025.
However, Ssenyondo claims his team has been placed in one of the most difficult groups.
Ssenyondo says the team’s main goal is to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, but it must first get through the group stages.
“I would say it is a group of death because all the teams are very hard, but we started this journey with just one target, which is to qualify for the World Cup, and we will give it our all to see to it that at the end of the matches in the group, we are through to the World Cup,” said Ssenyondo.
Uganda qualified for the second Africa Cup but did not make it past the group stage.
Morroco Is Difficult – Ssenyondo
The manager believes that playing Morocco will be a difficult task, noting that Tanzania has been a difficult neighbour to play in previous meetings.
Ssenyondo admits that he does not know much about Zambia’s style of play, but predicts that they will be a strong team based on their COSAFA competition record.
“We have been waiting for this draw, and luckily enough, we now know who we will play. It is not a draw you’ welcome but one you will take. Facing Morocco there as hosts will make the group hard. We are playing the hosts who know what it means to qualify for a World Cup. The other team is Tanzania. It’s always a hard one against Tanzania,” Ssenyondo said.
“The opponent we have not read about much is Zambia. They have played in the COSAFA competitions, which makes them a hard opponent.”
Uganda’s first and last appearance at the U-17 AFCON was in the 2019 edition held in Tanzania, where they narrowly missed out on a knockout stage spot.
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