The excitement of Nigeria’s win over hosts Ghana at the WAFU B U17 Championship and the possible qualification of the Golden Eaglets for the 2025 U-17 AFCON may have dissipated after the Confederation of Africa (CAF) clarified.
African football fans had great expectations that the 2025 Africa U17 Cup of Nations would be expanded, as FIFA had allocated, during its Congress in Bangkok last week.
Contrary to what many close observers had predicted would be a minimum of 16 teams, CAF has reaffirmed that the Africa U17 Cup of Nations will still include 12 finalists in attendance next year.
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The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria have thus failed to advance to the finals of the WAFU B U17 Championship, even though they defeated their hosts, Ghana, in Tuesday’s third-place game.
It was unclear before the losers’ final whether the Golden Eaglets would advance to the 2025 under-17 AFCON, which is a prelude to the Qatar-hosted 2025 under-17 World Cup.
Although football fans anticipated a minimum of 16 teams to compete in the competition, a recent declaration from CAF claims that Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets have not qualified for the CAF tournament.
“The final tournament will still have 12 teams,” CAF’s Director of Competitions, Samson Adamu, told thenff.com.
