The Director General of the National Sports Commission, NSC, Bukola Olopade, has charged Nigeria’s Under-17 national team, the Golden Eaglets, to fly high at the WAFU B U-17 Championship to qualify for the U-17 AFCON and ultimately end the FIFA U-17 World Cup qualification drought. Head Coach, Eboboritse Uwejamomere, leads the Golden Eaglets at the 2026 WAFU B U-17 Championship which gets underway in Ouagadougou Burkina Faso from October 10 to 23 2026.
The last time the Nigeria featured at the FIFA U-17 World Cup was at the 2019 edition hosted by Brazil. Nigeria finished top of Group B ahead of Ecuador, Australia, and Hungary, winning two games and losing one, but their run ended in the Round of 16 following a 3–1 defeat to the Netherlands.
Olopade gave the charge during a morale-boosting visit to the team’s training camp at the FIFA Goal Project pitch in Abuja on Monday, ahead of their departure on Tuesday for the WAFU B U-17 Tournament in Burkina Faso. The DG urged the players to embrace the responsibility of representing Nigeria and begin their journey to the reaching the FIFA U-17 World Cup by winning the WAFU B tournament.
He reminded the players that Nigeria has not featured at the FIFA U-17 World Cup for years, urging them to write a new chapter in the history of one of the country’s most successful national teams. Also Read: WAFU B U-17 Championship: Golden Eaglets Step Up Preparations In Abuja “We have not qualified for the World Cup for a long time now, and the country is looking up to you to end that drought.
You are Nigerians, and Nigerians are fighters. We no dey carry last. Go to Burkina Faso, win the WAFU B tournament, qualify for the AFCON and then secure our place at