April 28, (THEWILL) -Nigeria’s Under-20 football team has high hopes for a successful outing as they travel to Niamey, Niger Republic’s capital, for this year’s WAFU B Under-20 Championship, which will take place from May 7 to 20.
The delegation of the seven–time African champions will arrive in Niamey on Thursday, and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has scheduled two friendly matches in Niamey to prepare the team for the competition.
Drawn in Group B, the team will be under the management of head Coach, Ladan Bosso, who has chosen a team of 30 players to battle against Ghana’s Black Satellites and Burkina Faso’s Young Etalons.
Meanwhile, in Group A, the hosts Niger Republic will contend against U-20 teams from Benin Republic, Togo, and Cote d’Ivoire.
On Sunday, May 8, the Flying Eagles will face familiar adversaries and continental rivals Ghana in their first encounter of the campaign, before taking on Burkina Faso three days later. Both games will be held at Niamey’s General Seyni Kountche Stadium.
Each group will send two sides to the semi-finals, with the two finalists qualifying to represent the WAFU B zone at the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in 2023.
That Africa U-20 Cup of Nations will be held in Egypt in 2023, while the FIFA U-20 World Cup finals will be held in Indonesia. The tournament’s four semifinalists will all qualify to represent Africa in Indonesia.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
