The draw of the TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations saw the baby scorpions in Group C alongside defending champions Senegal, Tunisia and Somalia.
The 2005 and 2009 champions of the CAF U17 AFCON will be battling for supremacy in the 15th edition scheduled for Morocco from March 30 to April 19.
Gambia who be aiming to get one of the tickets from the competition to represent Africa in the global stage for the first time since 2009.
The tournament in Morocco will have 10 African nations to qualify for the 2025 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Qatar.
The tournament pattern will see the top two teams in each group qualifying for the quarterfinals and the 2025 FIFA World Cup before the competition continues in a knockout format.
The Gambia, which finished third in the WAFU A qualifiers in Senegal in 2024, is one of the countries handed a spot in the extended tournament.
Yaya Manneh’s charges would like to follow the footsteps of the U20 by reaching the world stage.
Meanwhile, star player Francis Gomis is already in Denmark undergoing trials with AC Horsens. It’s yet to be seen if there will be new additions to the team that played the WAFU qualifiers with key absentee being Bakary Badjie, a versatile midfielder who was injured throughout the tournament.
Gambia’s first triumph in 2005 was, quite remarkably, the only win so far by the host nation.
