Mali drawn with Guinea, Liberia and Gambia in Bamako-hosted U-20 qualifying draw

The draw for the UFOA Zone A U-20 qualifying tournament was held in Bamako on Thursday 1 October, as confirmed by multiple Malian and regional outlets including malijet.com, MaliActu, Foot Africa and SenePlus. Hosts Mali were placed in Group A alongside Guinea, Liberia and Gambia, while title-holders Senegal were drawn into Group B with Mauritania, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau. Foot Africa

Eight nations in total will contest the tournament, with the two finalists qualifying directly for the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations 2027 in Ghana. The tournament is set to run from 15 October, though outlets differ on the precise closing date, with some reporting 30 October and others 31 October; no official federation calendar has yet settled the discrepancy. The competition proceeds against the backdrop of Mali's severe security crisis over the past year, including an April coordinated assault on the capital and surrounding areas by JNIM and allied Tuareg fighters, though no reporting has detailed specific security arrangements for the October fixtures themselves.