The Nigeria men’s U-17 team, Golden Eaglets will not participate in the expanded 2025 CAF U17 AFCON in Morocco.
Despite the decision of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to increase the number of participating teams from 12 to 16, Nigeria didn’t make the cut.
The continental football governing body increased the number of teams by four at its recently held extraordinary congress.
These spots are filled by WAFU-A, as the tournament holder; UNAF Zone, as the host zone; CECAFA; and COSAFA, completing the 16 teams for the tournament from 30th March to 19th April 2025.
The Central African Football Federations’ Union, UNIFAC will begin qualifiers in Cameroon to select representatives between 16 – 28 February 2025.
The 16 teams will go into four groups of four teams each. The top two from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.
While Nigeria finished fourth in the WAFU B championship in Ghana, other regions, such as the WAFU A Zonal qualifier, received an extra slot.
Nigeria has won the CAF U17 AFCON twice, joint-highest with Ghana, Mali, Cameroon and The Gambia.
Meanwhile, for the first time, 10 African teams from the CAF U17 AFCON will qualify for the expanded 48-team 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar from 5–27 November.
Furthermore, Africa will have one of the largest representatives thanks to the merit allocation by FIFA.
