CAF Snubs Nigeria, Hands Lifeline to Bronze Medalists in U17 AFCON Expansion

By Dayo Awoniyi

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has shockingly dashed Nigeria’s hopes of participating in the 2025 U17 African Nations Cup finals, despite being the five-time world champions.

Instead, CAF has awarded two of the four additional slots to Gambia, who finished third in WAFU Zone A, and Tunisia.

Nigeria’s U17 national team, the Golden Eaglets, had finished third behind Burkina Faso and Cote D’Ivoire at the WAFU B Championship in Ghana, but their bronze medal was not enough to secure a spot in the expanded 16-team tournament.

The remaining two slots will be filled by the top two teams from the UNIFFAC region qualifier, which will be hosted by Cameroon from February 16-28.

The five participating countries in the championship are Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Congo.

This decision means that Nigeria will miss back-to-back FIFA U17 World Cups, a devastating blow to the country’s youth football development.