Golden Eaglets miss World Cup spot after 2-1 loss to Burkina Faso

The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria have failed to make the FIFA Under 17 World Cup after being eliminated from the ongoing Under 17 African Cup of Nations.

The Nigerian side was have knocked out of the 2023 CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations after slumping to a 2-1 defeat to Burkina Faso in a quarterfinal clash at the Nelson Mandela Stadium on Thursday.

The loss also means that Nigeria won’t be among the four nations to hoist Africa’s flag at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Coming into the clash, Golden Eaglets, despite finishing second in their group, were the slight favourites over a Burkina Faso side they defeated 2-1 in the final of the WAFU B regional championship a few months ago.

On the night, the Eaglets were the more dominant side but lost several chances in the opening twenty minutes to have gone nil up.

Persistent, Burkina Faso, however, found the back of the net when forward Camara slotted home from close range following some sloppy play from the Eaglets.

The night became more gloomy for the Nigerians after Camara grabbed a brace from the penalty spot 12 minutes into the second half.

Abubakar Abdullahi gave the Golden Eaglets a shimmer of hope in the 67th minute when he reduced his team’s deficit off a cross from substitute Daniel.

The Nduka Ugbade side could, however, not find the crucial equaliser to extend the game into extra time.