Algeria, Gambia, Niger and Burkina Faso Advance to U-17 WC

Nine teams have already earned their respective berths to the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup as African qualifying wraps up this week. In a setup similar to the CONCACAF U-17 Championship that kicks off in a few weeks, semifinalists from the CAF Championship are the four who book their place in the FIFA event.

Joining World Cup hosts Nigeria, Algeria has qualified for the event for the first time with a pair of 1-0 wins against Cameroon and Guinea. They joined Gambia, also winners against Guinea and Cameroon, from Group A of the confederation championship.

From Group B, Niger turned a pair of victories against Zimbabwe and Malawi to quickly seal advancement to the World Cup. Burkina Faso also earned a place in the final four - and consequently in Nigeria - with a 2-0 defeat of Malawi.

The quartet from Africa will join up with already qualified Nigeria (hosts), Iran, Japan, Korea Republic and UAE (Asia). The representatives from the other FIFA confederations will be decided later in the year.