The 1981 African Youth Championship was the 3rd edition of the biennial African qualification tournament for the FIFA World Youth Championship which was contested on a home-and-away two-legged basis.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 8 June 1980 – 24 April 1981 |
| Teams | 14 (from 1 confederation) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Egypt (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Cameroon |
| Third place |  Nigeria |
| Fourth place |  Algeria |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 10 |
| Goals scored | 49 (4.9 per match) |
← 1979 1983 → | |
Egypt beat Cameroon 3–1 on aggregate in the final to claim their inaugural title, although both teams qualified for the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia.
Teams
editThe following teams entered this edition of the tournament and played at least a match:
Preliminary round
editThe first leg was played on 8 June and the second leg was held on 22 June 1980. The winners advanced to the first round.
The teams who received byes to the first round are Guinea, Cameroon, Tunisia, Morocco, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Algeria, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Uganda, the Central African Republic and Kenya.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Equatorial Guinea 
|
4–3 |  Gabon
|
2–0 | 2–3 |
Togo 
|
w/o 1 |  Benin
|
||
Zimbabwe 
|
w/o 1 |  Malawi
|
1 Malawi and Benin withdrew.
First round
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Guinea 
|
2–2 (a) | Equatorial Guinea
|
2–1 | 0–1 |
| Cameroon
|
5–1 | Togo
|
3–0 | 2–1 |
Tunisia 
|
1–1 (6–5 pen.) |
 Morocco
|
0–1 | 1–0 (a.e.t.) |
| Zimbabwe
|
2–1 |  Ethiopia
|
0–0 | 2–1 |
Mauritania 
|
1–6 | Algeria
|
1–3 | 0–3 |
| Nigeria
|
w/o 1 |  Ivory Coast
|
||
Egypt 
|
w/o 1 |  Uganda
|
||
Central African Republic 
|
w/o 1 |  Kenya
|
1 Ivory Coast, Uganda and Kenya withdrew.
Second round
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameroon
|
3–1 | Equatorial Guinea
|
3–0 | 0–1 |
| Nigeria
|
5–4 | Tunisia
|
4–0 | 1–4 |
| Zimbabwe
|
1–3 | Egypt
|
1–1 | 0–2 |
| Central African Republic
|
w/o 1 | Algeria
|
4–1 | n/p |
1 Civil unrest and political turmoil in the Central African Republic forced their team to withdraw after the first leg, leading to the scrapping of the second leg and advancing Algeria to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria
|
2–4 | Cameroon
|
2–3 | 0–1 |
| Algeria
|
w/o1 | Egypt
|
1 Algeria withdrew.
Final
editThe first leg was played on 12 April and the second leg on 24 April 1981.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameroon
|
1–3 | Egypt
|
1–1 | 0–2 |
| 1981 African Youth Championship winners |
|---|
 Egypt First/Inaugural title |
Qualification to the World Youth Championship
editThe two best performing teams qualified for the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship.