WAFU-B Championship: Golden Eaglets beat Ghana to bronze

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Nigeria’s U-17 national team edged host, Ghana 3-2 in the third-place match of the 2024 West Africa Zone B (WAFU-B) Championship on Tuesday.

The victory was not to secure Golden Eaglets qualification ticket for the next U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) despite the announcement of silver medalist, Cote D’Ivoire as host.

The Eaglets took to the field with a winner’s mentality and took the lead in the ninth minute when Imrana Muhammad lashed the ball into the net after a goalmouth scramble.

The Black Starlets equalised 10 minutes later when a Nigerian defender unwittingly put the ball into his net.

Three-time world champions Ghana took the lead for the first time in the game in the 27th minute when Harve Gbafa profited from a defensive blunder to beat goalkeeper Dominic Chinedu in goal for Nigeria.

Four minutes before half-time, Abdulmuiz Adeleke took his tournament tally to three when he nodded in the equaliser from a pull-out by John Ogwuche.

In the additional minutes of the second half, and with both teams appearing to be thinking of the inevitable penalty shootout, Adeleke took matters into his own hands and netted the winner for Nigeria to secure a place at next year’s continental finals.

Cote D’Ivoire were confirmed as host of the tournament and also qualified alongside Burkina Faso, the winners of the tournament.