General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Dr Mohammed Sanusi has charged the Golden Eaglets to go for victory in the third place match against the Black Starlets of Ghana in the 2024 WAFU B Under-17 Championship on Tuesday as there is still a chance they can qualify for the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
Dr Sanusi said although he was not sure if three or four teams will be picked from the WAFU B regional competition to play at the Under-17 AFCON, the Golden Eaglets should go all out and win today’s game in order to stand a chance if CAF decides to pick only three countries.
Given their pedigree at this level, both Nigeria and Ghana were expected to contest the final match of the competition but the Black Starlets were stunned 2-1 by Burkina Faso in the first semi final while the Golden Eaglets got shocked 1-0 by Cote d’Ivoire in the second.
With the West African Football Union, WAFU yet to provide clarity on the number of teams that will proceed to the 2025 Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations from WAFU B, the NFF General Secretary feels the best thing for the Golden Eaglets is to win the third place match.
Dr Sanusi said there have been reports that with FIFA increasing the African slots from 4 to 10 at the World Cup, three teams will qualify from the WAFU B tournament while others have suggested four teams will make it.
He said with the conflicting reports, it was important for the Eaglets to play their hearts out against Ghana and win the third place match.
He howver admited that the game would not be easy as the Black Starlets are the home side and will be getting massive support of the fans.
The third-place match will kick off at 4pm Nigerian time on Tuesday at the University of Accra Stadium ahead of the final between Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire, which commences at 7pm.