Golden Eaglets Crash Out of U17 AFCON Qualifiers After Draw With Ivory Coast

Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets have suffered another painful exit from the U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers after playing a 1-1 draw with Côte d’Ivoire on Saturday night.

The result ended Nigeria’s hopes of progressing to the next stage of the qualifying tournament.

The Golden Eaglets finished bottom of Group B with one point from two matches. Côte d’Ivoire came second with two points, while Niger topped the group with four points.

The group’s remaining fixtures on Tuesday will see Ghana face Côte d’Ivoire, while Burkina Faso take on Niger for places in the championship game.

Despite their exit, Nigeria showed an improved performance compared with their opening 2-1 defeat to Niger.

However, defensive confusion midway through the first half allowed Côte d’Ivoire to take the lead.

The Golden Eaglets returned from the break with greater urgency and pushed hard for an equaliser.

Their efforts paid off five minutes from time when substitute John Abiodun scored to make it 1-1, following a solo run by Colombus Igboenyobe.

Nigeria then had two big chances to snatch a late victory.

In the 89th minute, Abiodun found himself through on goal with only the goalkeeper to beat, but he fired his effort over the bar.

A minute later, the Ivorian goalkeeper produced an excellent save to push a goal-bound Nigerian effort behind for a corner.

Despite their late push, the Golden Eaglets could not find a winner, bringing their campaign to an end.

The result marks another disappointing chapter for Nigeria’s U17 team, who will now turn their attention to rebuilding ahead of future competitions.