By Victor Kanayo
Nigeria will face Senegal on Monday in the quarter-final of the ongoing U20 Africa Cup of Nations, with a focus on securing a ticket to the 2025 FIFA U20 World Cup.
Only four African countries are guaranteed places at the upcoming Junior World Championship.
Road to Last Eight
Unbeaten in their Group B campaign, the Nigerian side, also known as the Flying Eagles, finished second behind Morocco and had to proceed to Ismailia for their game against title-holders Senegal.
Senegal also finished second in Group C, which included the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, and the Central African Republic.
The 19-team finals have been whittled down to eight contenders, with Tanzania and Zambia eliminated in Group A, Tunisia (despite their three points) and Kenya thrown out from Group B, and the Central African Republic stopped in Group C.
What History Says
Two years ago, the Lion Cubs from Senegal pipped the Flying Eagles 1–0 in the two teams’ first match of the CAF U20 Championship at the Cairo International Stadium, on the way to the Cubs’ first triumph in the competition, after they defeated Gambia 2–0 in the final. Nigeria finished third in the same competition.
However, Nigeria know they cannot afford to pull any punches on Monday, as only the semi-finalists will qualify to fly Africa’s flag at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile later in the year. The Flying Eagles came within a nod of the semi-finals at the last FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina, two years ago.
Nigeria converted Senegal into a happy hunting ground ten years ago, beating the host nation 3–1 in the opening match of the CAF U20 Championship and then securing a 1–0 win over the Lion Cubs in the final to pick up their seventh continental title. In December of the same year, Nigeria’s U23 team won the Africa U23 Cup of Nations in Senegal to qualify to represent Africa at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Senegal will also flaunt their 2–1 defeat of Nigeria in the Round of 16 of the FIFA U20 World Cup finals in Poland six years ago.
