How Golden Eaglets Can Make It To U17 AFCON - NFF

How Golden Eaglets Can Make It To U17 AFCON - NFF 

By Niyi Busari

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has said that the Nigeria U17 boys team can still make it to the next CAF U17 African Nations Cup despite failure to play in the final of the 2024 WAFU B championship, BSNSports.com.ng can report.

The Nigeria football governing on Monday in a press statement charged the five times FIFA U17 World Cup champions to beat the hosts, Ghana in today's Third Place match to renew the hope of picking a ticket to the U17 AFCON. According to the General Secretary of the Federation, Sanusi Mohammed said though he's not sure if three or four teams will be picked from the WAFU B regional competition to play at the U17 AFCON, he however charged the Golden Eaglets to go all out and win the game to stand a chance of playing at the Nations Cup if CAF picks three countries.

 The global youth football powers Nigeria and Ghana will on Tuesday battle it out for the bronze medals of the ongong WAFU B U17 Championship in Accra, Ghana.

Given their pedigree at this level, both nations should have been preparing to test strength and savvy for who deserved the trophy, in the final match of the competition. However, the Eaglets were downed by Cote d’Ivoire’s Baby Elephants while the Starlets were plucked by the Baby Etalons of Burkina Faso in the semi-finals.

With the West African Football Union still unable to provide clarity on the number of teams that will proceed to the 2025 Africa U17 Cup of Nations from WAFU B, General Secretary of Nigeria Football Federation, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi has charged the Eaglets to go all out and execute the third-place encounter like a final match.

“We are still awaiting clarity on the number of teams that will qualify to the U17 AFCON from this tournament. Some people have said only three teams; some said four teams. It is therefore important that our boys go out there and play their hearts out to finish in third place.

“The Black Starlets will not be an easy ride. They are the home side and they will bank on the support of the fans. But our boys have what it takes to achieve victory.”

The third-place match will kick off at 3pm Ghana time (4pm Nigeria time) at the University of Accra Stadium, ahead of the final match between Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire, which commences at 6pm Ghana time (7pm Nigeria time).