AS the quarter-finals of the ongoing 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations begin today, Wednesday, May 10, Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets are a match away from earning a ticket to feature in this year’s FIFA UN-17 World Cup billed to commence in November.
A victory against their opponents, Burkina Faso on Thursday, May 11, in Algiers will secure a spot for the Golden Eaglets among the countries that will participate in the World Cup.
Apart from the host nation of each FIFA World Cup tournament that qualifies automatically, the remaining teams qualify through competitions organised by the six regional confederations.
The six regional confederation are Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confederation of Africa Football (CAF), Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), and South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL).
Other are the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
For Africa, four countries are to represent the continent during the FIFA World Cup and currently, eight teams are battling for the four slots at this ongoing AFCON tournament in Algeria.
‘No game will be easy’ – Golden Eaglets’ Coach Ugbade
Ahead of the quarter-final match, the Golden Eaglets’ Head Coach Nduka Ugbade admits that playing against Burkina Faso who defeated the defending champion Cameroon in the group stage will be a herculean task.
“The quarter-final matches will be very hard nuts to crack because that is the step that earns you the World Cup ticket. None of the four games will be easy. Our interest is Burkina Faso and we are working hard towards achieving success,” he said.
However, he said the team is well-prepared for the match.
“We had an interesting match with South Africa and it has prepared us well for further challenges in the competition. We learned a lot playing Zambia, Morocco, and South Africa – all strong teams – in the group phase and that was a good furnace for us to be a better squad.”
Nigeria will take on Burkina Faso at the Nelson Mandela Stadium, in Algiers, at 8:00 pm on Thursday.
