All the eight countries to play at the 2023 U23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament, which acts as the qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, have already been known following the conclusion of the qualifying phase for the tournament.The final phase climaxed in style on Tuesday night with five more teams qualifying while giants Nigeria and Senegal crashed out.##NAJAVA_MECA_7134971##Nigeria, the 2015 U-23 AFCON champions, failed to make it through after falling 2-0 to Guinea in the return leg played at the Stade Moulay Hassan in Rabat, Morocco.The first-leg ended goalless and the return leg was a different ball game as Guinea rose to the occasion to snatch the ticket.Second-half goals by Algassime Bah and Alseny Soumah were enough to ensure Guinea qualified for their first time on a 2-0 goal aggregate.Nigeria 0️⃣-0️⃣ #GuineaGuinea 2️⃣0️⃣ #Nigeria 1996 Olympic ⚽️ champions fail to qualify for the AFCON U23 tournament which serves as qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Olympics😞Salisu Yusuf had come under severe criticism from the local media & fans over selections & results🫣 pic.twitter.com/CfDMbCpyBz— Oluwashina Okeleji (@oluwashina) March 28, 2023 After losing the first leg 3-1 to Senegal, the Mali team turned tables to win the return leg 3-0 in a match played at Stade du 26 Mars, Bamako.The tense first half ended goalless after both teams came close to scoring. But a charged Mali team returned determined to find the goals and scored through Hamidou Diallo after 61 minutes, before Kamory Doumbia made it 2-0 four minutes later.It was a tense last 20 minutes as the Senegal team tried to fight back. But Mali were awarded a penalty which Mamadou Sangare made no mistake by converting after 72 minutes.𝙁𝙄𝙉 𝘿𝙀 𝙈𝘼𝙏𝘾𝙃 | Grosse désillusion pour nos lions U23 qui s’inclinent 3-0 face au Mali. Le Sénégal ne participera pas à la prochaine Coupe d’Afrique des moins de 23 ans et tire également un trait sur son rêve olympique. #MALSEN #2023AFCONU23Q pic.twitter.com/FzbIr1tlyx— FSF (@Fsfofficielle) March 28, 2023 Former champions Gabon also qualified for the U-23 AFCON after stopping hosts Cameroon 7-6 on penalties.Etiene Emmanuel Eto’o Fils had netted the lone goal for Cameroon at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde to take the decision to penalties since Gabon had also won by the same margin in the first leg.The Ghana U-23 team that had managed to pick a 1-1 draw in the first leg against Algeria this time made home advantage count with a 1-0 victory.2023 Africa Cup of Nations kick-off and final dates confirmedAbdul Fatawu Issahaku scored the lone goal after 12 minutes to ensure Ghana qualified for their second U-23 AFCON tournament.Niger also qualified after picking a shocking 2-1 away win in Sudan at the Al Hilal Stadium in Omdurman after the first leg ended goalless.Mali, Gabon, Guinea, Ghana and Niger now join hosts Morocco, Congo and defending champions Egypt for the tournament.Congo progressed to their first ever U23 AFCON in the slimmest way possible, earning their ticket to Morocco on the away goal rule following a 1-1 aggregate draw against South Africa on Monday.Matasi troubled by howler committed in Stars loss to IranThe Congolese held on for a 0-0 draw at home against the Young Bafana Bafana, who were keen on earning a high scoring draw or victory to book themselves a slot in the final tournament while Egypt defeated Zambia 2-0 on aggregate.Morocco is hosting the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, from which the top three teams qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the fourth-place team plays a play-off with its Asian counterpart for the fourth qualifying card for the Olympics.
