2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification


The 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.
Players born [|1] January 1997 or later were eligible to participate in the competition. A total of eight teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Egypt who qualified automatically as hosts. These matches also served as the first stage of the CAF qualifiers for the 2020 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Japan.

Teams

Apart from Egypt, the remaining 53 members of CAF were eligible to enter the qualifying competition, and a total of 43 national teams were in the qualifying draw, which was announced on 2 October 2018. The 13 teams which had the best performance in the 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations final tournament and qualifying competition were given a bye to the second round.
Final tournament hostsBye to second round
First round entrants

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    • ;Notes
    ;Did not enter

    Format

    Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, away goals rule was applied, and if still tied, penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner.

    Schedule

    The schedule of the qualifying rounds was as follows. All matches were played during the FIFA International Window. The third round was originally scheduled for 3–11 June 2019, but was rescheduled to 2–10 September 2019 due to the proximity of its initial dates to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations between 21 June and 19 July.
    RoundLegDate
    First roundFirst leg12–20 November 2018
    First roundSecond leg12–20 November 2018
    Second roundFirst leg18–26 March 2019
    Second roundSecond leg18–26 March 2019
    Third roundFirst leg2–10 September 2019
    Third roundSecond leg2–10 September 2019

    Bracket

    The bracket of the draw was announced by the CAF on 2 October 2018.
    The seven winners of the third round qualified for the final tournament.

    First round

    Second round

    Third round

    Winners qualified for 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.

    Qualified teams

    The following eight teams qualified for the final tournament.
    TeamQualified onPrevious appearances in Africa U-23 Cup of Nations1
    23 6 20172
    2
    8 9 20191
    0
    1
    2
    1

    Goalscorers