No AFCON, No World Cup for Golden Eaglets – Daily Trust

Nigerian football fans are fuming once again because the 2026 edition of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicked off on Wednesday, April 13, in Morocco, without the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria – the most successful team in the world at this level.

Despite their enviable record of five global titles, the Nigerian U-17 national team has failed to qualify for at least six editions of the continental showpiece. The back-to-back failures in 2025 and 2026 mark only the second time in Nigerian football history that the Golden Eaglets have missed consecutive youth AFCON tournaments.

It is a well-known fact that apart from inadequate preparation, the rigid two-slot cap for West African Football Union (WAFU) Zone B contributed to the failure of Nigeria to qualify for the expanded tournament in Morocco.

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CAF has split the continent into regional zones, allocating only two qualification slots to WAFU Zone B. This rule requires teams to reach the tournament grand finale to qualify automatically for the AFCON, which also serves as qualifiers for the World Championship. Unfortunately, at the last regional championship in Cote d’Ivoire, the Golden Eaglets lost 0-2 to Ghana in the semi-final, which effectively shut them out of the 2026 AFCON.

The allocation of only two slots to WAFU Zone B has continued to elicit condemnations. The zone is widely recognised as Africa’s strongest youth football region. It features traditional powerhouses, including Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso. This strict regional format forces these elite teams to eliminate each other prematurely. Meanwhile, statistically weaker zones receive an equal or greater number of slots.

Let me reiterate that when CAF expanded the U-17 AFCON tournament field from 12 to 16 teams, CAF snubbed WAFU Zone B while distributing the extra slots to other zones. WAFU Zone A received an extra slot as the reigning champions; Union of North African Football (UNAF) gained an extra slot as host region; Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA), and Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) were also given additional slots.

The distribution formula left WAFU Zone B completely excluded from the expansion that benefitted weaker teams like Gambia who advanced from their respective zones despite finishing third, while the Golden Eaglets missed out completely even as they also finished third in their zone.

So, Nigeria’s absence at the ongoing youth AFCON in Morocco is a combination of self-inflicted mistakes and high-stakes politics at CAF, which rubbed off negatively on the most successful cadet national team in the world. Sadly, the steady decline in the fortunes of the Golden Eaglets is not only disturbing, it is a major threat to the future of the other national teams that are usually fed with some of the outstanding players from successful U-17 national teams.

It will be recalled that when the Golden Eaglets won the 2013 and 2015 World Championships, players like kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi, Isaac Success, Musa Muhammed, Francis Uzoho, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze, and Kelechi Nwakali moved from there to play for the Super Eagles. Before then, the iconic figures such as Nduka Ugbade, Nwankwo Kanu, Wilson Oruma, Celestine Babayaro, John Mikel Obi, and a host of others had blazed the trail.

Unfortunately, the trend is in a reverse mode following the back-to-back failure to qualify for the AFCON and the World Championships. It is indeed painful that at the U-17 level, Nigeria’s regional standing has collapsed completely due to structural and tactical failures.

What, then, is the way forward? To regain her absolute hold on regional youth football, Nigeria must implement institutional reforms that address poor preparation, administrative interference, and, most importantly, systemic talent scouting. Structural planning must replace the current “fire-brigade” approach.

Talking about institutional reforms, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has taken a step in the right direction by appointing a young and internationally exposed football tactician, Eboborite Uwejamomere, to serve as the head Coach of the Golden Eaglets. Before turning to Nigeria, the 29-year-old built his foundational coaching career in England. He worked within the youth development structure of clubs like Nottingham Forest FC, Millwall FC, and Gillingham FC.

In the local scene, he has proved his mettle as a highly regarded tactical analyst. He served for years as the senior coach-analyst for the Super Eagles and provided technical match analysis for the Super Falcons. In addition, he served as the head coach of Abeokuta-based Stormers FC.

Most recently, he worked as Head of Academy at Sporting Lagos FC, where his developmental setup helped revitalise the club’s youth pipeline. His international exposure and immense contributions to the recent success of Sporting Lagos in the just concluded Nigeria National League (NNL) season must have played a pivotal role in his national appointment.

Following the failure of the Golden Eaglets to qualify for the 2026 AFCON, Uwejamomere has been tasked with an immediate structural rebuild. He is expected to spend the upcoming months scouting grassroots academies to prepare a fresh, age-compliant squad for the next WAFU Zone B U-17 Championship cycle.

Without a doubt, he has his work cut out for him. His appointment by the NFF also represents a significant shift toward a younger, data-driven, and highly analytical coaching culture. For so many years, football stakeholders faulted the NFF’s decision to entrust youth national teams in the hands of old and “outdated coaches.” Now, a young, vibrant, and technologically equipped coach is in the saddle. The ever-demanding Nigerian football fans won’t accept any excuse for failure.

However, for him to succeed, his employers must provide an enabling environment for him to carry out his assignment. The NFF must end the practice of opening training camps just four to six weeks before major regional qualifiers. Historically, successful Golden Eaglets squads were camped and moulded for over a year before playing competitive matches. Long-term tracking allows technical crews to establish tactical cohesion and conduct exhaustive talent scouting.

Most importantly, if I can talk to Uwejamomere directly, I will advise him to be wary of unscrupulous football agents who are in the bad habit of using money to influence coaches’ decisions, especially in the selection of players. It is often alleged that agents regularly offer cash incentives to youth coaches to secure camp invitations or final tournament spots.

Interference in his job will go beyond external actors because even among the NFF bigwigs, there are those who would want him to select players from academies owned by their allies. So, the young gaffer is definitely going to come under pressure from his employers as well.

Furthermore, he should be ready to deal with the problem of unlicenced middlemen who manipulate public perception by funding coordinated media campaigns to hype mediocre players. This is usually done by planting exaggerated transfer stories on sports blogs, framing their clients as indispensable prodigies while attacking coaches who resist their roster demands.

These are some of the dangerous landmines that may consume the new coach. However, the Golden Eaglets will bounce back if Uwejamomere would avoid the mistakes made by some of his predecessors who lacked professionalism and the willpower to resist the whiff of foreign currencies or 10% to 15% kickback on future European transfer fees on players.