MATCH FACTS: Gambia and Somalia seek first points at TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025
Gambia and Somalia will hope to bounce back from opening round defeats when they clash in their second Group C game at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Morocco 2025 in El Jadida on Friday (kick-off 14:00 local time / GMT).
This is the first meeting between Gambia and Somalia at the TotalEnergies CAF U17 AFCON.
Somalia are the 13th different country that Gambia will be up against at the finals, after previous games against Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d’ Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.
Somalia are the second East African nation Gambia will face after they began with a 1-0 win against Ethiopia at the 2003 edition.
For Somalia this is their second game against West African opponents, their only previous encounter was a 3-0 group stage defeat against Senegal in their final game in 2023.
Somalia faces a former champion for the first time. When they met Senegal in 2023 the Senegalese had not yet won the title. Gambia becomes the fifth different country that Somalia will face at the finals.
GAMBIA FACTS
· Lost their opening game 1-0 against Senegal in their fifth tournament appearance.
· Having won their opening game at their first three finals appearances in 2003, 2005 and 2009, Gambia have now lost their opening game at their last finals appearances against Congo in 2011 and now Senegal.
· Gambia have never previously lost their opening two games at the finals; in all four previous participations they have managed to record at least one win across their opening two games. In fact, Gambia have never previously failed to win any of their opening two group games.
· Gambia’s record in their second group game reads P4 W3 D0 L1. Their only previous loss in their second group game was a 1-0 defeat against Nigeria in their debut tournament in 2003.
· Gambia have won their second group game in their last three tournament appearances in 2005, 2009 and 2011.
· At the 2005 tournament, Gambia overcame Mali 3-2 in their second group game, while in 2009 they won 2-0 against Cameroon and in 2011 they defeated Mali 1-0.
· In their loss against Senegal, the Gambians only faced one shot on target from which Senegal scored. They had two shots on target themselves
· Gambia completed just 143 passes in their loss to Senegal, while their opponents managed to complete 325.
· In their loss to Senegal, Muhammed Danso had 82 touches in the game the most by any Gambian player and second most across both teams in the match.
SOMALIA FACTS
· Somalia lost their opening game 3-0 against Tunisia. They have lost their opening games at both of their tournament participations in 2023 and 2025.
· Somalia have lost their last two games at the finals 3-0. They also lost against Senegal in their final group game in 2023 by the same scoreline.
· Participating in their second finals, Somalia are searching for their first win (D1 L3).
· In their only other tournament participation in 2023, in their second group game Somalia won their first points at the finals, drawing 1-1 against Congo.
· Their draw against Congo in their second group game in 2023 is the only time that Somalia have scored in a game at the finals. Diini Mohammed netted in that game.
· Somalia will be aiming to win their first game at the finals in their fifth match.
· They faced seven shots on target in their game against Tunisia. It was the third time at the finals they had faced seven or more shots in a game, along with their matches in 2023 against Algeria (7 shots) and Congo (9) .
· Somalia goalkeeper Abdiasis Ahmed made four saves in their loss against Tunisia, facing seven shots on target.