Nigeria battles Côte d’Ivoire, Benin in CAF Schools Football Championship
Nigeria will face the representative teams of Benin Republic and Côte d’Ivoire in the group stages of the WAFU B zonal qualifiers for the 2025 CAF Schools Football Championship.
The tournament, which runs this week in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, promises four days of exciting football action across male and female categories.
Nigeria will compete in the male event only. Group A features hosts Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Niger Republic, while Group B includes Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Benin Republic.
In the female competition, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire make up Group A, with Ghana, Benin Republic, and Niger Republic drawn in Group B.
The Nigerian schoolboys, selected from schools that participated in the national competition in Abuja two months ago, will open their campaign against Côte d’Ivoire on Monday at 11am at the Stade August 4 in Ouagadougou.
Their second group match comes on Tuesday at 9am against Benin Republic. Semi-final matches are scheduled for Wednesday, with the third-place playoff and final set for Thursday.
Nigeria’s contingent, comprising 19 players and six officials, arrived in Ouagadougou on Saturday after travelling through Lagos and Abidjan.
They are lodged at Hotel Splendid in the Burkinabe capital. The team is led by Coach Oluwaseun Oyeniyi and features players drawn from Government Basic Education School, Kaduna; Government Junior Secondary School, Jalingo; Adaigbo Secondary School, Ogwashi-Ukwu; National Grammar School, Enugu; and Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti.
The squad includes:
Goalkeepers: Sa’adu Tukur (Government Junior Secondary School, Jalingo); Joshua Chima (Adaigbo Secondary School, Ogwashi-Ukwu)
Defenders: Mujaheed Nura (Government Basic Secondary School, Kaduna); John Oruomoni (National Grammar School, Enugu); Hamza Ibrahim Aliyu (Adaigbo Secondary School, Ogwashi-Ukwu); Tobiloba Adedeji (Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti); Divine Juwe (Adaigbo Secondary School, Ogwashi-Ukwu); Timothy Ijachi (National Grammar School, Enugu)
Midfielders: Yusuf Auwal (Adaigbo Secondary School, Ogwashi-Ukwu); Isaac Ajang (Government Junior Secondary School, Jalingo); Thomas Titus (National Grammar School, Enugu); Peter Moses (Government Basic Secondary School, Kaduna); Abdulsalam Mohammed (Government Basic Secondary School, Kaduna); Ayomide Adeleke (Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti); Nnamdi Echeruozo (National Grammar School, Enugu)
Forwards: Marcus Adeyanju (Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti); Wisdom Okonkwo (Adaigbo Secondary School, Ogwashi-Ukwu); Umar Faruk Shuaibu (Government Basic Secondary School, Kaduna); Abdulrazzaq Mufutau (Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti)
