Africa bombed out of the World Youth Championship in disappointing circumstances on Monday, so leaving question marks over the current state of junior soccer on the continent.

Burkina Faso, Egypt and the Ivory Coast were all losers in their respective second round matches, joining Mali who did not make it past the first round.

This means that there will be no African representative in the quarter-finals of the World Youth Championship for the first time in twelve years and six tournaments.

The previously unbeaten Burkina Faso had been expected to make the last eight but were surprisingly defeated 1-0 by Canada, who had squeaked into the second round, in Abu Dhabi.

The Canadians' 60th-minute goal was the first the Burkinabe had conceded in the tournament.

"Our big disadvantage was that we missed a proper striker," said Mart Nooij, Burkina Faso's Dutch coach.

"We knew that from the beginning but I'm sure some of my players will go onto play for the senior national team, even at the forthcoming Nations Cup finals."

Meanwhile, Ivory Coast coach Mama Ouattara blamed his team's second-round exit on the refusal of Belgian club Beveren to release several key players, particularly in defence.

The west Africans were beaten 2-0 by America, who fielded 14-year-old Ghanaian-born Freddy Adu in their line-up, in Dubai.

"We were bad in defence because we did not have our first choice player," Ouattara explained.

"But we were beaten by a much better team."

"This US side is going to be hard to beat at the tournament."

The Ivorian coach also lamented the lack of finance for proper preparation for his team ahead of the tournament.

Finally, Egypt coach Hassan Shehata, who was disappointed with his side's golden goal loss to Argentina in a 2-1 defeat, has been criticised by the Egyptian media on Tuesday for his team selections.