Morocco Edge Mali To Win First U17 AFCON Title

Morocco Edge Mali To Win First U17 AFCON Title

Morocco have won the 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on home soil after defeating Mali 4-2 on penalties (after a 0-0 draw) in the final, played at the El Bachir Stadium in Mohammedia on Saturday.

The teams cancelled each other out through the 90 minutes, but the young Atlas Lions showed their class in the shootout, stylishly finished off by a ‘Panenka’ penalty from Ilies Belmokhtar to send the home supporters into raptures, as Morocco claimed their first-ever AFCON U-17 title.

After an evenly-matched opening quarter, Mali appeared to have claimed the lead via Soumaila Fane, who steered home a close-range effort from a right-flank cross, but VAR correctly ruled out the goal, as the Malian attacker had in fact used his hand to redirect the ball.

The closest Morocco came to a goal in the first half was via Ziyad Baha shortly before the interval, as he met a low cross from the right and fired an effort toward the bottom corner, but Mali goalkeeper Lamine Sinaba was equal to the task.

The West Africans were the stronger team early in the second half, with Seydou Dembele notably drawing a great save from Chouaib Bellaarouche in the 49th minute.

The Moroccan goalkeeper had a busy time through the remainder of the game, regularly getting involved to help out his defence against the attacking pressure built by Mali.

The match ended 0-0 and went to penalties, with Bellaarouche making two outstanding saves in the shootout to help his side win 4-2.

Morocco and Mali also join Burkina Faso, South Africa, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Tunisia, Egypt and Uganda as qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which will be held in Qatar in November.