U17 AFCON: cameroon suffers shock group stage elimination

The Baby Lions finished the campaign ranking rock-bottom fourth in Group B of the championship.

The Under-17 men’s national football team of Cameroon has been eliminated from the 2025 Under-17 African Cup of Nations. The team has also been knocked out of the race to the 2025 Under-17 FIFA World Cup as a result of the early elimination from the ongoing African championship. The team was knocked out of the 2025 U17 African tournament after failing to win any of its three matches in the group stages of the tournament which is presently unfolding in Morocco.

The Baby Lions finished the campaign a ranking rock-bottom fourth in Group B of the championship where the outfit was up against South Africa, Egypt and Burkina Faso. The team suffered a 2-1 defeat to Burkina Faso in its opening game, settled for a goalless draw in the second outing and bowed out with a 2-1 loss to Egypt in its third and final game in the group stages.

The performance left Cameroon totaling one point in three games. That was far fewer than those of group winners, Burkina Faso which garnered nine points and South Africa and Egypt that finished second and third with five and three points respectively. South Africa joined group winners, Burkina Faso, in qualifying for the quarterfinals of the African championship.

The two nations also picked automatic qualification tickets to the 2025 U17 World Cup which will take place in Qatar. Egypt progressed to join the three other third-placed teams from the group stages in qualifying for the continental playoff phase of the African zonal qualifiers to the 2026 World Cup, an event from which two additional African nations will later make the World Cup.

Cameroon misses out on African trophy, World Cup ticket

Cameroon’s fourth-placed ranking meant the team has been eliminated from the African championship at the group stages for the second edition running. The U17 Lions had the same setback during the 2023 edition of the competition. Beyond the African championship, the collapse in the 2025 African championship also meant that Cameroon had missed out on a qualification ticket to the 2025 FIFA sU17 World Cup. 

Africa will be represented in the 48-nation tournament by a total of 10 nations following the expansion of the competition from a 24-nation event to a 48-team series. Cameroon has won two African championships, following successes in the 2003 and 2019 editions of the competition. The country has also made it two finals of the category’s World Cup. The two appearances were both registered in 2003 and 2019.