U-17 World Cup Champions Nigeria won’t be defending their title at the next World Youth Championship following a 1-3 loss to Niger Republic, which saw them crash out of the qualifiers on a 2-3 aggregate score.
Niger took the lead before the Nigerians replied minutes later and hanged on to their score until the half time break.
Few minutes after the restart, the Nigeriens retook the lead via the penalty spot after they were awarded a debatable penalty by the referee.
Manu Garba and his boys failed to recover from going behind and conceded a third goal that saw them crash out of the qualifiers at the first hurdle.
Next year, Nigeria won’t be at the U-17 and 20 Africa Youth Championship as well as the Africa Cup of Nations, further compounding the woes of the country’s football at the moment.
