| 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 → | |
The1981African Youth Championship was the 3rd edition of the biennial African qualification tournament for theFIFA World Youth Championship which was contested on a home-and-awaytwo-legged basis.
Egypt beat Cameroon 3–1on aggregate in the final to claim their inaugural title, although both teams qualified for the1981 FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia.
The following teams entered this edition of the tournament and played at least a match:
The 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.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Equatorial Guinea  | 4–3 |  Gabon | 2–0 | 2–3 |
Togo  | w/o1 |  Benin | ||
Zimbabwe  | w/o1 |  Malawi |
1 Malawi and Benin withdrew.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | 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 (6–5pen.) |  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/o1 |  Ivory Coast | ||
Egypt  | w/o1 |  Uganda | ||
Central African Republic  | w/o1 |  Kenya |
1 Ivory Coast, Uganda and Kenya withdrew.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | 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/o1 | 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: the second leg was scratched and Algeria advanced to the semi-finals.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 2–4 | Cameroon | 2–3 | 0–1 |
| Algeria | w/o1 | Egypt |
1 Algeria withdrew.
The first leg was played on 12 April and the second leg on 24 April 1981.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameroon | 1–3 | Egypt | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| 1981 African Youth Championship winners |
|---|
 Egypt First/Inaugural title |
The two best performing teams qualified for the1981 FIFA World Youth Championship.