Only Ivory Coast Out: 9 of 10 African Teams Progress to U17 World Cup Knockouts

The group stage of the 2025 Qatar U17 World Cup has concluded. Of the 10 African teams participating in the tournament, 9 have successfully advanced to the knockout phase, with only Ivory Coast U17 being eliminated in the group stage.

This edition marks the first time the U17 World Cup has expanded from 24 to 48 teams, and the CAF (Confederation of African Football) has been allocated 10 spots—second only to Europe’s 11. Ivory Coast U17 was drawn in a group with Switzerland, South Korea, and Mexico. They lost all three group games, scoring 2 goals and conceding 8, finishing bottom of the group and suffering elimination.

The remaining 9 CAF teams all qualified for the knockouts. Among them, debutants Uganda U17 and Zambia U17 successfully passed the test to reach the next round. Ivory Coast U17’s best performance in the tournament came in 1987, when they claimed the third place.