Nigeria Golden Eaglets Crash Out Of The U17 AFCON, And To Miss The World Cup.

Nigeria Golden Eaglets crashes out of the ongoing Under 17 AFCON after losing to Burkina Faso 2-1 in the quarter-final on Thursday night.

After an entertaining comeback 3-2 over an equally talented South African team at the weekend, the Golden Eaglets qualified for the knockout round with two wins from three matches, finishing second in Group A with 6 points level with table toppers, Morocco.

While the Baby Stallions squeezed through after one victory which was a 2-1 win over defending champions Cameroon, with a late Souleymane Alio quick-fire brace. They also finished second in Group C with 3 points to advance to this stage.

The quarter final encounter at the Stade Nelson Mandela which was purely a West African affair, saw midfielder Aboubacar Sidiki Camara giving Burkina Faso the lead after pouncing a poor clearance by Tochukwu Ogboji late in the first half (45th minute(.

The 16-year-old further doubled the advantage in the return to action having converted a penalty in the 57th minute.

Abubakar Idris Abdullahi scored what turned to be a consolatory goal for Nigeria in the 67th minute, as a wasteful Nduka Ugbade’s boys were unable to pull a comeback.

The 2-1 defeat for Nigeria ended their hopes for a third AFCON crown, and the five time U-17 world champion, also fail to qualify for this year's U-17 FIFA World Cup later this year.

The Golden Eaglets are the most successful team in the tournament, having previously won the world cup in, 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013 and 2015, and qualified 12 times.

 

The team will now be disbanded and some will move to the Under-20. 

Burkina Faso will now face Senegal in the first semi-final game on Sunday, while Morocco will play Mali in the second semi-final later same day. The four countries will also represent the continent at the U-17 World Cup.

The final will be played on Friday, May 19 at the Stade Nelson Mandela stadium in Algiers, Algeria.