Host country Morocco Venue(s) 2 (in 2 host cities) | Dates 13 – 27 April Runners-up Nigeria | |
 | ||
Teams 8 (from 1 confederation) Champions Ivory Coast (1st title) | ||
The 2013 African U-17 Championship was a football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament took place in Morocco from 13 to 27 April. The top four teams qualified for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Contents
Qualification
The qualifiers began on 7 September 2012 with the preliminary matches taking place, while the final round matches were played on 2 December 2012. At the end of the qualification, seven teams joined the hosts, Morocco.
Draw
The draw for the tournament was held on 9 December 2012 in Cairo, Egypt.
MRI controversy
All players in the competition went through a mandatory MRI test which investigates bony fusion of the left distal radius (wrist). Several players were considered to be over-age by CAF and they were not eligible for the competition. The tests took place on 12 April, one day before the competition began leaving no time for a replacement players to be found. Ivory Coast, Congo and Nigeria each had three players found to be ineligible.
CAF released the names of the players who were found to be over-age:
Group stage
Each group winner and runner-up advanced to the semi-finals.
- Greater number of points obtained in the matches between the concerned teams
- Best goal difference resulting from the matches between the concerned teams
- Greatest number of goals scored in the matches between the concerned teams
- Goal difference in all group matches
- Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches
- Fair Play point system in which the number of yellow and red cards are evaluated
- Drawing of lots by CAF Organising Committee
All times are (UTC±0)