Rising Stars land Group of Death in repeat of 2025 AFCON U20 draw
Kenya’s Rising Stars have landed in a tough Group B alongside Nigeria, Morocco, and Tunisia following a fresh draw for the 2025 AFCON U20 tournament held on Sunday in Cairo.
Rising Stars have been pooled with Nigeria, Morocco, and Tunisia in Group B of the 2025 AFCON U20 tournament after CAF conducted a fresh draw for the competition on Sunday in Cairo, Egypt.
Nigeria are the competition’s record champions with seven titles. Morocco were champions in 1997 and semifinalists in 1987 and 2005. Tunisia finished second in 1985 and have reached the semifinals in the last two editions of the competition.
While Nigeria defeated Tunisia to win bronze at the last edition in 2023, Morocco will be making their return to the tournament since exiting at the quarterfinals in 2021.
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Rising Stars, on the other hand, will be making their first appearance in the competition’s current format, having last featured in 1979 when the tournament was played as a home-and-away elimination contest.
The trio now replace defending champions Senegal, 2017 winners Zambia, and debutants South Sudan, who had been drawn with Rising Stars in Group C during the previous draw held on February 13, 2025.
Kenya’s East African rivals Tanzania, who are making their second appearance, were pooled in Group A with hosts and four-time champions Egypt, debutants Sierra Leone, and 1997 silver medallists South Africa.
In the new draw, Group C features Senegal, Central African Republic, DR Congo, and four-time winners Ghana.
CAF conducted the repeat draw after Egypt replaced Ivory Coast as tournament hosts on March 27. Ivory Coast had withdrawn from hosting the competition on March 26 and were replaced in the new draw by Tunisia.
Initially, Egypt had been drawn in Group B with Nigeria, Morocco, and South Africa. The earlier draw had also placed withdrawn hosts Ivory Coast in Group A alongside Central African Republic, DR Congo, Ghana, and Tanzania.
However, Egypt’s change of status to tournament hosts saw them join 2023 bronze medallists Nigeria and defending champions Senegal as the top-seeded teams in the 13-team tournament.
The entry of Tunisia saw them join Central African Republic and Zambia as second seeds in Pot 2.
Pot 3 comprised Kenya and six other qualified teams: DR Congo, Ghana, Morocco, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Tanzania.
In the end, the new draw—apart from top seeds Nigeria and Senegal—saw only Morocco and Tanzania remain in their original groups.
Sierra Leone and Zambia moved from Group C to Group A, while Central African Republic, DR Congo, and Ghana moved the other way.
According to the draw procedure, Group A was structured to have five teams, while Groups B and C were to consist of four teams each.
The top two teams in each group will qualify for the quarterfinals, along with the two best third-placed teams.
To determine the ranking of third-placed teams, results against the fifth-placed team in Group A will be excluded so that all teams are evaluated based on their record against three opponents.
The four teams that reach the semifinals will qualify for the 2025 FIFA U20 World Cup, set to take place in Chile from September 27 to October 19.
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