Rwanda gets bye into second round

The national U-17 team has been exempted from the first round of the U-17 African Championship qualifiers whose finals will be held in Niger in 2015. 

Monday, January 27, 2014
Rwanda U-17 team that failed to go past the first round for the 2013 AYC finals. Times Sport / T. Kisambira.

The national U-17 team has been exempted from the first round of the U-17 African Championship qualifiers whose finals will be held in Niger in 2015. 

Other countries exempted from the first round include;  Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia.

Burundi will lock horns with DR Congo; Kenya face South Sudan, Uganda play away to Seychelles, while Sudan will face Egypt. The first round first leg matches will be played on June 13-15 and the second leg two weeks later. 

The second round, first leg matches are scheduled for the weekend of July 18-20 with the second leg set for on August 1-3.  Rwanda, who reached the final of the 2011 edition staged in Kigali, will face the winner between Uganda and Seychelles.

Should Rwanda progress to the third round, they will need to dispatch the winner between Zambia and Botswana. The third round will be played in September this year. 

Rwanda participated in the FIFA U-17 World Cup for the first time in 2011, having finished second in the 2011 African U-17 Championship on home soil. 

However, they were eliminated in the group stages after suffering defeat against England and Uruguay, and playing out a draw against Canada.

First round

Burundi vs DR Congo

Guinea Bissau vs Togo

Gambia vs Guinea

Kenya vs South Sudan

Cameroon vs Central Africa

Libya vs Mauritania

Mozambique vs Namibia

Seychelles vs Uganda

Liberia vs Sierra Leone

Egypt vs Sudan