Morlaye Sylla scored a brace of goals as Guinea booked their place in the semifinals of the 2017 African Under-20 Championships after a 3-2 victory over Mali in their final Group A clash in Ndola on Saturday.

The west Africans join hosts Zambia in the knockout stages, with the latter having already qualified before their 3-1 victory over Egypt in Lusaka.

Zambia top the pool with a full haul of nine points, with Guinea in second having taken four points from their three games. Egypt (two points) and Mali (one) miss out.

Both semifinal sides have also qualified for the 2017 FIFA Under-20 World Cup that will be played in South Korea in May and June.

Sylla’s double, the first from the penalty-spot, saw Guinea twice equalise after Mali were ahead first through Sekou Koita after just three minutes, and then following a penalty via Moussa Diakite.

But Mohamed Camara found a winner for Guinea with 17 minutes remaining to seal a passage to the knockout stages for his side.

Egypt needed victory to ensure of their semifinal place and went ahead against the Zambians after 36 minutes as skipper Karim Hassan found the back of the net.

But goals from Patson Daka and Fashion Sakala swung the game in the favour of the Zambians, before the free-scoring home side netted a third late on via Daka.

Sunday will see the semifinal line-up completed when an open Group B is completed.

Senegal lead the pool with four points, followed by South Africa and Cameroon (three each), and Sudan.

The Senegalese face Cameroon in a winner-takes-all encounter in Ndola, while South Africa know victory over Sudan in Lusaka will be enough to see them advance.

The Sudanese could still go through if they and Senegal both win.