The Kenya U20 national team is expected to learn their opponents for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations when CAF will conduct the draw on Thursday, February 13, 2025, in Cairo, Egypt.

The junior team managed to reach the continental finals after reaching the final of the CECAFA regional qualifiers that was held in Tanzania in 2024.

CAF will conduct the draw with the help of former Mali international ⁠Adama Coulibaly, and ex-Senegal star Souleymane Camara will act as draw assistants.

Kenya is among 13 teams that will compete in the 2025 edition that will be held in Ivory Coast from April 26 to May 2025. The top four nations to qualify for the 2025 FIFA U20 World Cup that will be staged in Chile from September 27 to October 19, 2025.

Qualified teams: Ivory Coast (hosts), DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania (UNIFFAC 2* Zambia * to be determined).

Tournament’s format

According to CAF, the teams will be divided into three AFCON groups (A, B, and C), with Group A containing five teams and Groups B and C four sides each. Cote d’Ivoire, as the host country, is automatically preassigned to position A1 in Group A.

The remainder of the seeds for each group have been determined via the final placings in the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 AFCON, Egypt 2023.

Holders Senegal take up position C1, and Nigeria, who finished third two years ago, take up position B1.

“The identity of the second team from the UNIFFAC Zonal Union is still to be determined following Congo’s FIFA suspension, but the team representing UNIFFAC will be in Pot 1 (Level 2) along with Egypt and Zambia. The teams in Pot 1 will be drawn into positions A2, B2, and C2.

“The top two teams in each group qualify for the quarter-finals along with the two best third-placed sides before the competition continues in a knockout format,” CAF said.

Level 2 teams will be drawn to occupy positions A2, B2, and C2. The remaining teams will be drawn to occupy positions A3, B3, C3, A4, B4, and C4. The last remaining team will automatically be placed in A5.

The draw will be made using five separate pots:

Pot 1: Egypt, UNIFFAC 2, Zambia (Level 2 teams)

Pot 2: Ghana, DR Congo, Kenya, Morocco, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania

Pot 3: Positions A2, B2 & C2

Pot 4: Positions A3, B3 & C3

Pot 5: Positions A4, B4 & C4