THE Nigeria Football Federation caused confusion last night by first declaring the Golden Eaglets qualified for the 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations and then updating later that it was no longer the case.
The Golden Eaglets beat hosts Ghana 3-2 in the third-place match of the WAFU B U-17 Championship in Accra last night and the NFF said, following Cote d’Ivoire getting the AFCON hosting rights, the five-time world champions had earned a slot in the continental competition.
Hours later, the NFF admitted that their initial information was wrong and that the Eaglets would not be attending the U-17 AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire next year.
“The Confederation of African Football has clarified that next year’s Africa U17 Cup of Nations will still have 12 finalists in attendance, as against the minimum of 16 teams being projected by African football enthusiasts,” the NFF wrote in a email made available to Naija Times last night.
“This means that despite defeating host nation Ghana in Tuesday’s third-place match of the WAFU B U17 Championship, the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria have not qualified for the finals.”
The national football governing body then quoted CAF Director of Competitions Samson Adamu as saying “The final tournament will still have 12 teams”.
“Expectations had been high among African football aficionados that the 2025 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations would be expanded, following FIFA’s allocation, at its Congress in Bangkok, penultimate week, of 10 slots to the continent for the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup that Qatar has been designated to host,” the NFF wrote.
“Qatar will host five consecutive FIFA U17 World Cup finals beginning next year, each having 48 teams in attendance.”
The rules going into the WAFU U-17 Championship were that only the two teams reaching the final would advance to the U-17 AFCON, but the NFF started speculating on an expansion of the tickets to three or even four teams as soon as the Nigerian lads lost to Cote d’Ivoire in the semi-finals.
