Uganda Cubs knocked out by Somalia

U17 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers

Semifinals

Result

Uganda 1(7) Somalia 1(8)

Uganda Cubs have been eliminated by Somalia 7-8 in penalties after a 1-1 draw during the ongoing U17 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers in Ethiopia.

Uganda took the lead through Hakim Wandera’s freekick in the 43rd minute before Somalia levelled matters through Abdi Abdihafid in the 45th minute.

Coach Hamza Lutalo’s side, who had an impressive performance in the group stages beating South Sudan and Burundi 4-1 and 4-0 respectively failed to break down Somalia.

Somalia, who looked composed and comfortable shocked hosts Ethiopia to make it to the semifinals.

The winner between Tanzania and South Sudan will join Somalia as the teams that have qualified to represent the CECAFA in the U-17 AFCON 2023 in Algeria.

In the last edition of U17 qualifiers that took place in Rwanda, Uganda beat Kenya 2-1 in the final to qualify for the finals in Morocco. Unfortunately, the finals were not held due to the pandemic.

Players born January 1, 2006, or later are eligible to participate in the competition.

This will be the first edition of Africa U-17 Cup of Nations with 12 teams instead of eight. Each of the six zones received two spots in the final tournament.