Africa will have four teams at those finals, providing the 12 qualified teams with a giant carrot ahead of the pool stage draw that is scheduled for later this month.

The TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations has a long history dating back 46 years but started as knockout competition to determine the qualifiers for what was then the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championships in Japan.

The first edition had 11 teams and was won by Algeria, who defeated Guinea on the away goals rule following a 4-4 draw on aggregate. The first six editions were knockout competitions, before the first finals was played between six sides in Egypt in 1991.

--ChannelAfrica--