Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets earned a place at the 2024 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations after beating hosts Ghana 3-2 in their third-place match on Tuesday.
The Eaglets took the lead in the ninth minute when Imrana Muhammad lashed the ball into the net after a goalmouth scramble.
Ghana equalized 10 minutes later when a Nigerian defender unwittingly put the ball into his own net
Three-time world champions Ghana took the lead for the first time in the game in the 27th minute when Harve Gbafa profited from a defensive blunder to beat goalkeeper Dominic Chinedu in goal for Nigeria.
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Six minutes later, Abdulmuiz Adeleke, who got a brace in the Eaglets’ 3-0 defeat of Togo in their final group phase match, rattled Starlets’ goalkeeper Michael Armah, but the ball was cleared out of danger.
The Eaglets were unrelenting, and four minutes before half-time, Adeleke took his tournament tally to three when he nodded in the equalizer from a pull-out by John Ogwuche.
Both teams started the second period where they left off at half time, with delightful attacking football. Ogwuche’s rebound missed the target in the 79th minute.
In the second minute of added time, and with both teams appearing to be thinking of the inevitable penalty shootout, Adeleke took matters into his own hands and netted the winner for Nigeria to secure a place at next year’s continental finals.
16 Comments
At least Naija nor dey carry last
Is this win enough to make u17 Afcon?
The way Manu and his crew were celebrating I assume they qualified
All semi finalists have qualified
They have qualified for the AFCON. FIFA wants 48 teams with 10 slotd allotted to CAF, UEFA 11 etc.
What this means is that CAF must increase the number of teams participating in AFCON 25 from 8 to 16 or 24.
But the afcon already has 16 teams naa. 4 from each zone. Burkinafaso and ivory coast, other teams from wafer zone B, then other regions as well. I don’t think Nigeria qualifies
You can’t say yet since CAF is yet to announce that.
If FIFA wants 48 teams then U17 Afcon qualifiers must increase from 16 to 32 to make the U17 Afcon tournament more competitive.
Is going to be 32 teams
8 from each regional bloc
Ghana and Nigeria have qualified
With or without 32 team composition, a window has opened for the third-place winner when, minutes to kick-off, Cote d’Ivoire (already in the final), was designated as hosts of next year’s continental finals.
With Cote d’Ivoire as hosts and guaranteed a slot, Burkina Faso (no matter the result of the final) and the third-place winner, Nigeria are assured of slot at the 2025 U17 Afcon in Abidjan.
Nigeria will surely go to AFCON 2025. Africa will have ten teams participating in the expanded 48-team U17 FIFA World Cup, which will be held annually in Qatar from 2025 to 2029.
This decision was ratified by FIFA’s council ahead of the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand.
The allocation of slots for other regions is as follows: Asia will have nine slots, CONCACAF eight, CONMEBOL seven, Oceania three, and UEFA 11.
This development introduces an exciting change for the next CAF U-17 Nations Cup scheduled for 2025, which will now feature either 16 or 24 teams. The competition is structured into six zones, with each zone traditionally sending two teams. However, under the new format, at least three teams from each zone should qualify.
Nigeria has now secured a third place at the WAFU ZONE B Competition
Either 3 or 4 teams will qualify from each region but stakejolders are saying 4 is more plausible.
You would expect CAF to have made an official statement long before this WAFU Zone B qualifiers started.
Let’s clarify the situation: The current U-17 AFCON tournament features 12 teams (Not 16), with two teams qualifying from each of the six zones. Given FIFA’s recent expansion of the U-17 World Cup to 48 teams, it’s logical to suggest that CAF should consider increasing the number of slots for the AFCON from 12 to 24 to align with this new global format. This adjustment would provide more opportunities for African nations to participate and compete on a larger stage
That exactly the scenario @Baba. Côte d’Ivoire will host the next U17 AFCON therefore, Nigeria automatically qualifies. I don’t know about Ghana.
However, Manu needs to fortify this team before the AFCON and this lies on the incompetent NFF. A sham of an organization. The number 10 Cletus, Number 13 Adeleke, Number 4 Destiny and the two center backs are the only standout players in this team.
The final third needs a lot of work. All in all kudos to the boys and Manu Garba.
I agree with all you said. I think Cletus is very good but he can do better. He tends to play to the gallery. But you can clearly see his quality. For this reason he needs competition for his position. Adeleke is good and he needs a striker to complement him. Just as you stated, other areas of the team needs serious fortification.
As for Manu Garba, he needs to go and improve himself. This is also clear from the way he set up this team to play. Yes, he has only 3 to 4 weeks to prepare this team. But his strategy and set up of the players were suspect. Congrats to the boys.
Congratulations Manu. And to think that some people started accusing him. I believe he will produce a good team. Ghana will also qualify.
I just watched the replay of the game. It’s wrong to say there are only three good players in this team. There are more.
That boy Cletus is a master player. He reminds me of okocha s passes and display from the middle. Great player.
That adekeke boy is good o. Look at that third goal. A strike from long distance that hit the bar and he still was composed to wait for a rebound and another strike and the goal. Great player too.
Ghanaians are also good. It’s just that their defense made lots of mistakes.
Cletus deserves to play at the world cup. Great 10.
Brilliant Golden Eaglets Claim Bronze against Bitter Rivals Ghana: 3-2
It was truly a topsy-turvy encounter against Ghana last night in the consolation third place Wafu Zone B U-17 encounter as Nigeria initially led, trailed and eventually sealed victory with a last minute kiss of death to claim Bronze.
There was no boring moment in the match as both teams brought their “A” game to the party to delight fans of both sides. I was left with nothing but appreciation and excitement for the manner in which the Golden Eaglets went about their business with focus, determination and a never-say-die attitude.
In fact, based on how Manu Garba’s boys conducted themselves with professionalism, drive and tactical discipline throughout the tournament, it would have been a shame for them to come back home empty handed.
We continue to receive conflicting reports about the significance of their third place finish with the NFF stating that Nigeria hasn’t qualified for the 2025 U-17 Afcon but some media outlets stating that Nigeria qualified by virtue of Silver Medallists Ivory Coast been named as sponsors.
We wait and see.