Tuesday, May 19
•DR Congo Vs Cameroon
•Ivory Coast Vs Uganda – 7pm
Group B
- Cameroon – 6
- Ivory Coast – 3
- Uganda – 3
- DR Congo – 0
Uganda’s national U-17 boys’ team, the Cubs, will be hoping to seal a place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup when they take on Ivory Coast in their final Group B match at the U-17 AFCON tournament in Morocco.
Uganda currently sit third in Group B with three points from two matches.
The Cubs began their campaign brightly with a convincing 3-0 victory over DR Congo before suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat to Cameroon in their second game.
Abdoulran Soudeisse scored the decisive goal for Cameroon in a match where Uganda struggled to find their rhythm.
The top two teams in the group will qualify for the knockout stage and automatically secure a place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Africa was allocated 10 slots for the World Cup, with the additional two places to be decided through playoffs.
“We still believe we can qualify for the World Cup despite the recent defeat,” said Uganda Cubs captain Owen Mukisa.
“This match is like a final for us. We have a mission to accomplish, and that is to qualify for the World Cup. The mood in camp is very positive, and all the boys are ready to make amends.”
A win for Uganda would move them level with Ivory Coast on six points and send the Cubs through on a superior head-to-head record.
Should Cameroon also defeat DR Congo in the other Group B fixture, all three teams would finish level on six points. In that scenario, head-to-head goal difference among the tied teams would determine qualification.
Cameroon lost 2-0 to Ivory Coast and beat Uganda 1-0, while any Uganda victory over Ivory Coast would improve the Cubs’ standing and leave Ivory Coast with an inferior head-to-head goal difference.
In short, any win for Uganda will secure qualification to both the knockout stage and the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
However, a third-place finish would force Uganda into the playoff route for World Cup qualification, just as was the case last year.
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