The defending champions, Golden Eaglets of Nigeria suffered a narrow 0-1 defeat to Côte d’Ivoire in the semi-finals of the 2024 West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Zone B U17 Championship late Saturday night in Ghana.
Youbah Coulibaly’s decisive goal in the 54th minute secured Côte d’Ivoire’s place in the final and earned him the MVP title for the match.
Earlier in the day, hosts Ghana were also eliminated after a 1-2 loss to Burkina Faso in the first semi-final. These results mean that Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire will clash in the final and represent the sub-region at the Africa U17 Nations Cup later this year.
However, it’s not clear if Nigeria and Ghana will participate in the CAF U17 African Nations Cup as FIFA increased the number of participants in the World Cup. From 2025 the tournament will take place annually and will have 48 participating teams divided into 4 ‘mini-tournaments’ of 12 teams. The world football governing body announced the increment of number of participating teams from Africa from four to ten but CAF has since kept mute on how the ten teams will emerge.
For now, the defeats for Nigeria and Ghana are significant, as both teams compete for the bronze medal in the consolation match.
The final showdown between Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire promises to be an exciting contest, with both teams aiming to claim the championship title.
 Zone B U17 Championship late Saturday night in Ghana.){kind=link}