MATCH FACTS: Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal meet in quarter-finals of TotalEnergies CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025

West African giants Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal will go head-to-head in the quarter-finals of TotalEnergies CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Morocco 2025 on Friday (kick-off 17:00 local time / 16:00 GMT).

Remarkably, the nations will meet at the TotalEnergies CAF U17 AFCON for the first time.

The Ivoirians have scored the most goals (10) in the tournament and are up against the Senegalese, who have the joint best defence.

Group D winners Cote d’Ivoire and Group C runners-up Senegal are both unbeaten at the tournament.

Cote d’Ivoire are facing a defending champion for the second time, with their only other meeting against Gambia in 2011 when they won 4-1 in the group stages.

Cote d’Ivoire have faced West African opponents 10 times previously and their record reads W5 D3 L2.

Their two losses to West African teams at the finals were against Ghana (2-0) in the 2005 semi-finals and Mali (1-0) in the group stages in 2015.

Cote d’Ivorie’s 10 games against West African rivals have produced 25 goals at 2.5 goals per game. They have scored 14 goals and conceded nine.

Cote d’Ivoire’s biggest win against a team from West Africa was a 4-1 group stage victory against Gambia in 2011.

Senegal’s record against West African teams at the finals reads P4 W1 D1 L2.

Cote d’Ivoire are the fourth team from West Africa that Senegal are facing at the finals after twice previously meeting Burkina Faso. They have also come up against Gambia and Guinea previously.

Senegal are facing a West African rival for a fifth time. Previously they lost to Burkina Faso 3-2 and Guinea 2-1 at the 2011 and 2019 group stages. They defeated Burkina Faso on penalties in 2023 in the semi-finals and defeated Gambia at the current finals 1-0.

Senegal’s win over Gambia at the current finals is their only win in open play against a team from West Africa, it is also the only time they have kept a clean-sheet against a fellow WAFU member nation.

Senegal have scored in all four of their previous games against West African teams at the finals.

The Ivoirians have a shot conversion rate of 19.23% while Senegal have a shot conversion rate of 7.32%, which is the lowest amongst all of the quarter-finalists.

COTE D’IVOIRE FACTS
·       This is the fourth time that the Cote d’Ivoire have passed beyond the group stages, along with 2005, 2011 and 2013.

·       Victory takes the Ivorians to their fourth semi-final, along with 2005, 2011 and 2013.

·       Senegal gone undefeated through the group stages, defeating Central African Republic 6-1 then drawing 0-0 with Angola before winning their final group game 4-2 against Mali.

·       They have played six games in the knockout rounds previously and their record in these games, including games decided on penalties registered as wins and losses, reads P6 W3 L3.

·       In the knockout phase their only wins in open play have been against South Africa (1-0) in the play-off for third place in 2005 and a 2-1 win against hosts Morocco in 2013.

·       They have lost three games in open play, a 2-0 defeat to Ghana in the 2005 Semi-finals, and 1-0 and 2-1 to Rwanda and Congo in the 2011 semi-finals and third-place play-off respectively.

·       Their only knockout game to go to a penalty shoot was the 2013 final against Nigeria, the game ended 1-0 before they won 5-4 in the shootout. 

·       Cote d’Ivoire will face a West African team in the knockout rounds for a third time after previously losing 2-0 to Ghana in the 2005 final. They managed to win against Nigeria in the 2013 final on penalties.

·       The 10 goals that they have scored at the current finals is the most that the Ivoirians have managed at a single edition, surpassing the nine they netted in 2011.

·       Alynho Haidara is Cote d’Ivoire’s top scorer at the current finals with six goals, three of which have come from the penalty spot.

·       Haidara’s six goals is the most by an Ivoirian player at a single edition of the finals.

·       Haidara is the tournament’s top scorer with six goals ahead of Burkina Faso’s Asharaf Tapsoba.

·       Cote d’ Ivoire’s Cedric Gobehi has made three assists thus far in the tournament, the most by any player in the group stages.

SENEGAL FACTS
·       Senegal advanced as runners-up to Tunisia in Group B.

·       They defeated Gambia 1-0 and then drew with Tunisia 0-0 before defeating Somalia 2-0 to reach the last eight.

·       Senegal went through the group stages undefeated, extending their unbeaten run in group games at the finals to seven (W5 D2).

·       Senegal have not lost any of their last 10 games at the finals (W7 D3). Their last defeat was against Guinea in their second group game in 2019.

·       Senegal’s group stage loss to Guinea in 2019 is their only defeat in their last 13 games at the finals (W8 D4).

·       Senegal have conceded just two goals in their last 10 games at the finals, in the semi-final and final against Burkina Faso and Morocco respectively in 2023.

·       Senegal did not concede a goal in the group stages at the current finals and it was the second successive tournament that they managed to go through the group stages without conceding a goal.

·       Senegal are one of two countries at the current finals to not have conceded a goal in the group stages, the other is hosts Morocco.

·       Of the eight quarter-finalists, Senegal have scored the fewest goals, netting just three in the group stages.

·       Senegal’s three goals in the group stages of the current finals is the second fewest they have scored in a group phase at the finals. Only in 2019 when scoring two goals did they net fewer. In 2023 they scored seven and in 2011 they managed four.

·       Senegal’s knockout round record, with games won and lost on penalties regarded as wins and losses, reads P3 W3.

·       Senegal’s only previous quarter-final encounter at the finals was a 5-0 triumph over South Africa in 2023.

·       Senegal. in their other knockout games in 2023. drew 1-1 with Burkina Faso in the last four in 2023 before winning on penalties. The game against the Burkinabe is their only penalty shoot-out at the finals and their only previous knockout game against West African opponents.

·       Senegal managed to defeat Morocco 2-1 in the final in 2023. That game is the only time they have conceded first in a knockout game at the finals.