U17 AFCON Nigeria 1 Burkina Faso 2: Five-time world champions miss out on World Cup 

Nigeria's flag will not be flown at the FIFA U-17 FIFA World Cup in Peru as the team coached by Nduka Ugbade on Thursday suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to fellow West African side Burkina Faso in the quarterfinals match of the 2023 Africa U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria. 

The west African derby was a repeat of the 2022 WAFU U-17 final which Nigeria won 2-1.

The Eaglets had several decent chances in the first half but most of their efforts were either off target or shots that were easily saved by the Burkina Faso goalkeeper.

Abubakar Abdullahi, Charles Agada and Light Eke were the Nigerian forwards who had the opportunities to make a difference but were unable to make them count. 

Jeremiah Olaleke made a goal-line clearance with a header after a double save from goalkeeper Odoh. 

However, Burkina Faso went ahead in the 45th minute through Aboubacar Camara who smashed the ball to the top right corner after a sloppy piece of defending by the Nigerian defenders culminated in a missed clearance by Tochukwu Ogboji. 

Aboubakar Camara slotted home the ball behind Odoh in the 57th minute from the penalty spot after Ogboji committed a foul inside the box for his second goal of the night. 

Abdullahi got a goal back for the Eaglets in the 67th minute when he finished up a flowing move to  reduce the arrears but the two-time African champions were unable to find the net to possibly take the game to extra time. 

Izuchukwu Michael

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