Africa Under-23 Championship draw to be held next month

Luther Singh of South Africa celebrates goal with teammates during the 2019 U23 Olympic Qualifier

Wednesday Sep 18, 2019. 10:00

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have confirmed that the draw for the African Under-23 Championship will take place in Alexandria on October 3.

The continental finals will also act as the qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, with the top three teams in the competition to represent Africa in the showpiece competition next year.

Hosts Egypt qualified automatically for the continental championship that they will host from November 8-22, while Cameroon and Ghana will make their debut in the competition.

Nigeria are the only former champions in the field, that also includes South Africa, Mali, Ivory Coast and Zambia.

Nigeria, South Africa and Algeria qualified for the last Olympics in 2016.

The African Under-23 Championship has only been staged twice before and is played every four years ahead of each Olympics.

Gabon were the inaugural champions in 2011, before Nigeria took the gold medal in 2015.