{"id":246833,"date":"2026-04-09T15:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T15:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsworldghana.com\/?p=246833"},"modified":"2026-04-09T15:04:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T15:04:00","slug":"2026-u17-afcon-ghana-drawn-in-tough-group-with-senegal-algeria-and-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/2026\/04\/09\/2026-u17-afcon-ghana-drawn-in-tough-group-with-senegal-algeria-and-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 U17 AFCON: Ghana drawn in tough group with Senegal, Algeria and South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Ghana\u2019s U-17 national team, the Black Starlets, have been handed a challenging yet exciting group following the official draw for the 2026 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The West African side has been placed in Group D alongside continental heavyweights South Africa, Senegal, and Algeria.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The draw ceremony was conducted at the headquarters of the Confederation of African Football in Cairo, setting the stage for what promises to be a highly competitive tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scheduled to take place in Morocco from May 13 to June 2, 2026, the competition will feature 16 of the best youth teams across the continent battling for top honors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ghana secured their place in the tournament after an impressive run at the 2025 WAFU Zone B U-17 Championship in Ivory Coast, where they finished as runners-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That achievement marked a significant return for the Black Starlets, who had been absent from the continental stage since 2017. Their qualification has reignited hopes of a resurgence for one of Africa\u2019s most storied youth teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The stakes for this year\u2019s tournament are even higher, as it also serves as a qualification route to the FIFA U-17 World Cup. All eight quarter-finalists will automatically book their place at the global showpiece, while two of the best third-placed teams will also secure qualification, bringing Africa\u2019s total representatives to ten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Historically, Ghana has enjoyed considerable success at this level. The Black Starlets have lifted the U-17 AFCON trophy twice, in 1995 and 1999, and have finished as runners-up in 2005 and 2017. However, the team has endured a long wait for continental glory, with their last title coming over two decades ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Drawn into a group featuring some of Africa\u2019s strongest youth sides, Ghana will need to be at their very best to progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nevertheless, the team will be driven by a strong desire to end their trophy drought and restore the nation\u2019s proud legacy in youth football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As preparations intensify, all eyes will be on the Black Starlets to rise to the occasion and make a strong statement on the continental stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2026 U-17 AFCON Group Results<\/strong>:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Group A:<\/strong>\u00a0 Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Group B:<\/strong>\u00a0 C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire, Cameroon, Uganda, DR Congo<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Group C:<\/strong>\u00a0 Mali, Angola, Tanzania, Mozambique<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Group D:<\/strong>\u00a0 Senegal, South Africa, Ghana, Algeria\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ghana\u2019s U-17 national team, the Black Starlets, have been handed a challenging yet exciting group following the official draw for&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[159,200,147,153,201],"class_list":["post-246833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-stories","tag-2026-u-17-africa-cup-of-nations","tag-algeria","tag-black-starlets","tag-senegal","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learn.oshtree.org\/b-class\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}