SAN FRANCISCO, December 12, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s Under-20 national team, the Flying Eagles, are out of next year’s U-20 African Cup of Nations in Mauritania and the 2021 U-20 World Cup in Indonesia after they failed to make the cut in the U-20 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers of the West African Football Union (WAFU) Group B in Benin Republic on Saturday.
The qualification chances of Ladan Bosso’s young players depended on the Black Satellites of Ghana defeating the Junior Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire by at least a two-goal margin having themselves failed to win any of their first two fixtures.
A red card against the Flying Eagles in their opening tie against Cote d’Ivoire saw them concede a late goal to draw 1-1, before a 1-0 loss to Ghana four days later made their qualification chances very slim.
However, there was to be no consolation for the young men from Nigeria as the Junior Elephants scored late in the second half at the Stade de Gaulles in Porto Novo to claim a 1-0 win over the Black Satellites on Saturday and seal the fate of Bosso’s team.
The result sees Cote d’Ivoire top the group on four points, Ghana follows on three points while Nigeria is bottom on just one point. This means the Junior Elephants and Black Satellites advance to the semi-finals of the competition, while the Flying Eagles are out of the U-20 World Cup for the second time in the last three editions.
Both sides join WAFU Group A qualifiers Burkina Faso and Niger Republic in the semi-finals of the competition. That part of the competition kicks off on Tuesday, December 15 and Group B leaders, Cote d’Ivoire will take on Group A runners up, Niger Republic while Ghana will face off against Burkina Faso in the battle for the final ticket.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
