Ghana to face arch-rivals Nigeria in WAFU B U20 & U17 Championship
Title holders Ghana were handed a tough draw to face arch-rivals Nigeria at WAFU Zone B U20 Cup of Nations next month.
The Black Satellites were drawn to take on the Flying Eagles in Group B of the tournament to be played in Niger.
The Ghanaians will also play Burkina Faso in the three-team group of the tournament to be held in Niamey, the capital of the West African country.
Hosts Niger were drawn in Group A to face Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin following the draw conducted at the headquarters of the Niger Football Federation.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals of the seven-team competition reserved only for youth footballers.
The WAFU B U20 tournament will be staged in Niamey from May 7 to May 20.
While the teams will compete for the ultimate title, they will also be vying for places at the 2023 edition of the TotalEnergies U20 Africa Cup of Nations.
The top teams in the tournament will qualify for the competition to be held in Egypt from February 18, 2023 to March 12, 2023.
The top four teams from the Egypt tournament will then qualify to play in the FIFA U20 World Cup which will be staged in Indonesia later in 2023.
AFCON U17
Meanwhile in the U17 draw, host country Ghana were pitted against Nigeria in Group A of the competition.
The Black Starlets will also face Togo in the three-team group while Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger will make up the other group.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals.
The championship, which serves as qualifiers for the 2023 edition of U17 Africa Cup of Nations, will be hosted in the Ghanaian city of Cape Coast.
It will be staged from Saturday June 11 to Friday June 24, 2022.
The participating teams will challenge for the trophy as well as tickets to the Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria next year.
The full WAFU B U20 draw:
GROUP A – Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin.
GROUP B – Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.
The full WAFU B U17 draw:
GROUP A – Ghana, Nigeria and Togo.
GROUP B – Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.
