The 15th edition of the biennial Africa Youth Football tournament for players aged 17 and below (AFCON U-17), kicked off on Sunday in Morocco, with the world’s most successful national team at this level, the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria conspicuously missing.
The competition also serves as qualifiers for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup to be held later this year in Qatar. The first top ten nations will qualify for the world finals.
Organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the competition, which was recently expanded from 12 to 16 teams, is scheduled for March 30 to April 19 in Morocco.
In the opening match on Sunday, host Morocco thrashed Uganda 5-0, while in the second match of the day, Zambia edged out Tanzania 4-1 to show intent to pick the ticket to Qatar.
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets, who hold a record five world titles, the highest by any country, failed to qualify for the AFCON after finishing third at the WAFU B qualifiers in Ghana.
Although they thrashed the host nation 3-2 in the third place match, that wasn’t enough to qualify the team for the AFCON as only the top two countries Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast picked the tickets to represent the region.
The failure of the Golden Eaglets to qualify for the ongoing championship makes it the second time they have failed to reach the finals since 2015.
In all, the Eaglets have failed to qualify for five editions of the competition since their debut in 1995. They missed out in 1997, 2009 (two years after they won both the AFCON and their third world title in 2007), 2011, 2017, and 2025.
Even as they have dominated on the world stage having won the prestigious title in 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013 and 2025, their performance in the AFCON has been largely underwhelming with only two titles in 2001 and 2007 in 10 appearances. They also managed to record two runners-up positions in 1995 and 2013.
The failure of the Golden Eaglets to qualify for the AFCON in Morocco only portrays the increasing decline in the performance of the cadet team that once produced immensely talented players who went on to play for the Super Eagles.
Notable among the Eaglets who later played for the the Super Eagles are Nduka Ugbade, Wilson Oruma, Celestine Babayaro, Kanu Nwankwo, Mobi Oparaku, John Mikel Obi, Chinedu Ogbuke, kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi, Isaac Success, Samuel Chukwueze and a host of others.
Unfortunately, the Golden Eaglets have missed seven FIFA U-17 World Championships since 1985 with a brace of back-to-back misses. They didn’t quality in 1991, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2017, 2023, and 2025.
Therefore, Nigerian football fans are worried that despite the recent expansion of the cadet championship, the Golden Eaglets will not be among the countries in Qatar for the 2025 FIFA World Cup.
Those who spoke to Daily Trust blamed the unfortunate situation on the lack of a well-defined youth football development programme.
Some also attributed the declining fortunes of the team to nepotism and constant recycling of coaches who had shown a lack of capacity to identify budding talents.
A member of the Golden Eaglets squad to Scotland ‘89, Aondofa Akosu, who went on to play for the Flying Eagles, said Nigeria must go back to grassroots football in order to uncover hidden talents.
He said too much attention is being paid to results, which fuels age-cheating and other corrupt practices.
The former BCC Lions player noted that at the moment, most coaches stay in Abuja for agents to bring players for screening, leaving out the talented ones who do not have anyone to take them to the coaches.
“Nigeria as a country is always thinking of quick results. This wasn’t the case in our days. Those in charge were more concerned with players’ development before results.
“No one is thinking of how to build players and wait patiently for the results to roll in. We are losing our dominance because the old system has changed. Coaches focus more on results to justify their appointments.
Akosu who was spotted by Brodericks in 1988 when playing for BCC Lions of Gboko against Flash Flamingos in Benin reiterated that for the present decline to be arrested, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) must be intentional about youth development.
On his part, Coach Austin Tyowua said invitations to Golden Eaglets camp shouldn’t be left in the hands of agents whose only interest is to promote their players for business purposes.
He said: “The Sebastian Broadricks’ approach of combing the entire country to scout for players should be revisited.
“Appointment of coaches should be done early for adequate preparations, and the NFF should fund the team very well so that agents won’t leverage the poor conditions to dictate to the coaches.”
However, a national youth coach, Haruna Ilerika, said what is happening to the team is normal as he said there is no cause for alarm.
“It is not as if the Golden Eaglets are declining in performance. In age grade competition, this is how it is supposed to be. For any country to dominate age grade competition, then there is something wrong somewhere.
“At that level, players are developing. If Nigeria could win the U-17 World Cup five times but couldn’t go beyond the quarter-finals at the World Cup, then we have to find out why it is so.
“It is now that we are doing the right thing. You and I will agree that the boys who are representing Nigeria this time are competing favourably. That is how development at U-17 should be. No country should dominate at this level.
“And now that MRI has been introduced, it has affected mostly African nations. It has become 50-50 for every country of the world.
“So, we are not declining. It is part of development, and it helps players discovered at this level to last longer,” said the secretary of the FCT FA.
