The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has clarified that the male U-17 team, the Golden Eaglets, have not qualified for the 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nation (AFCON) in Côte d’Ivoire and will resultantly miss the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar, after failing to pick their ticket at the just-concluded WAFU B tournament in Ghana.
Manu Garba’s team beat hosts Ghana 3-2 in the third-place match on Tuesday, but it was n0t enough to secure them a spot, even as the NFF initially said the purported 2025 tournament’s expansion had sealed their qualification.
There was a nervous wait to know the fate of the team since their 0-1 semi-final defeat to Côte d’Ivoire last Saturday, and the fatal blow was delivered on Tuesday when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) insisted on a 12-team tournament for the U-17 AFCON.
“The Confederation of African Football has clarified that next year’s Africa U-17 Cup of Nations will still have 12 finalists in attendance, as against the minimum of 16 teams being projected by African football enthusiasts.
“This means that despite defeating host nation, Ghana in Tuesday’s third-place match of the WAFU B U-17 Championship, the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria have not qualified for the finals”, the NFF said in a statement late Tuesday.
The NFF further said that CAF’s Director of Competitions, Mr. Samson Adamu confirmed that only 12 countries would qualify for Côte d’Ivoire 2025.
Expectations had been high among African football enthusiasts that the 2025 U-17 AFCON would be expanded, following FIFA’s allocation of 10 slots to the continent for the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup at its congress in Bangkok.
Qatar will host five consecutive FIFA U-17 World Cup finals in five succeeding years, beginning next year, each having 48 teams in attendance.
