Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets have failed to qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup after a shocking defeat to Burkina Faso in the U17 AFCON.
Nigeria’s quest for another U17 AFCON title has come to an end after a painful defeat to Burkina Faso in the quarterfinal.
The junior Stallions proved too difficult to crack by the wasteful Golden Eaglets following an intense 2-1 win on Thursday night at the Nelson Mandela Stadium.
Aboubacar Camara was the hero for the Burknabes after he scored in either half while Abubakar Abdullahi scored a late consolation for Nigeria.
The Golden Eaglets came into the game against the Stallions hoping to seal another ticket to the FIFA U20 World Cup and reach the semifinals of the U17 AFCON.
Nigeria has won the World Cup five times and qualified for 12, but have missed the chance for a 13th appearance following a painful and shocking defeat in Algiers.
However, they failed to make their dominance count despite creating the better chances but failed to take any of them.
Just before the break, Burkina Faso broke the deadlock against the run of play when Camara put them 1-0 up at half time.
In the second half, it was more of the same for the Nigerians as they continued to miss easy chances to draw
Camara stepped onto the plate to confidently convert to double the lead as the Stallions looked comfortable and calm.
10 minutes after the second goal, Nigeria finally pulled one back through Abdullahi. But it turned out to be just a consolation goal as Burkina Faso held on for the win.
With the result, Nigeria’s journey in Algeria comes to an end, with the Eaglets missing out on the World Cup while Burkina Faso will represent Africa later this year.