The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria beat the Black Starlets of Ghana 3-2 in third place match of the WAFU Under-17 championship in Accra on Tuesday to qualify for the 2025 Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations.
There was uncertainty over the number of teams that would qualify for the Under-17 AFCON from the WAFU B tournament but the window opened for whoever would finish third minutes to kick-off of the game between Ghana and Nigeria when CAF announced that Cote d’Ivoire who had already qualified by reaching the final were the hosts of the competition.
This meant that the slot Cote d’Ivoire already had as finalists was now open to the third place winners as the Ivorians qualified automatically as hosts.
Nigeria took the lead against Ghana in the 9th minute when Imrana Muhammad put the ball in the net after a goalmouth scramble.
Home support at the University of AGhana Stadium, Accra inspired the Black Starlets into action and they equalized in the 19th minute when a Nigerian defender scored an own goal.
Ghana took the lead in the 27th minute when Harve Gbafa profited from a defensive mix up by Nigeria to beat goalkeeper Dominic Chinedu.
It was Nigeria’s turn to equalise in the 41st minute as Abdulmuiz Adeleke took his tournament tally to three goals when he nodded into the net from a pull-out by John Ogwuche.
Both teams started the second half with the intensity they ended the first and displayed delightful attacking football.
However, it was the Golden Eaglets who had the most telling moment of the encounter in the second minute of added time when it appeared the game would go into penalties.
Adeleke scored the winning goal for Nigeria to send the Golden Eaglets to the 2025 AFCON and take his tally to four goals in the competition.
In the final match decided later, Burkina Faso were crowned champions after a pulsating 3-1 victory over Cote d’Ivoire.
The Young Stallions had to come from behind with forward Asharaf Tapsoba netting a brace to inspire his side to glory.