U17 Afcon: Nigeria U17 – Burkina Faso U17: Golden Eaglets eye World Cup berth

Nigeria will tackle Burkina Faso in the quarterfinals of the ongoing U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Thursday night at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers.

This encounter will be a repeat of the WAFU B qualifiers playoffs final where the Golden Eaglets beat Burkina Faso 2-1 to win the championship in Ghana last June.

The Golden Eaglets survived an early scare to overcome South Africa in their last Group B fixture, a result that earned them qualification as the group runners-up.

Nigeria came from behind twice to defeat South Africa 3-2 on Saturday and the Eaglets opened their campaign with a 1-0 over Zambia but fell 1-0 to against Morocco no thanks to an own goal by Tochukwu Ogboji.

Burkina Faso on the other hand confirmed their passage into the quarterfinal on Sunday night after they defeated holders Cameroon 2-1 in the last Group C match to finish second with 3 points.

Going into Sunday’s game, the Young Stallions lost 1-0 to Mali in their first game of the tournament and a draw would have suited both Burkina Faso and Cameroon to go through to the last eight of the competition.

Victory over their West African foes will see Nduka Ugbade’s side qualify for the 2023 U17 FIFA World Cup and also book a place in the last four of the cadet championship taking place in Algeria.