Penalty Agony! Nigeria’s U-18 Boys Lose World Championship Ticket to Cameroon
Nigeria’s Under-18 Men’s Handball team will not be at the 2027 IHF Under-19 World Championship after suffering a painful 32-30 defeat to Cameroon in the fifth-place match of the Africa Men’s Youth Handball Championship in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on Tuesday.
In a closely contested encounter that lived up to its billing, both teams went into the halftime break tied at 12-12, with neither side willing to give an inch.
The second half followed a similar pattern, with the Abdulhakim Yakubu-tutored side matching the Cameroonians for strength and tactics.
At the end of regulation time, the scoreboard read 27-27, forcing the match into a decisive seven-metre penalty shootout to determine the winner.
Cameroon held their nerve in the shootout, outscoring Nigeria 5-3 to secure a 32-30 overall victory and claim fifth place in the championship.
The result ends Nigeria’s hopes of securing one of Africa’s five qualification slots for the 2027 IHF Under-19 Handball World Championship.
The Nigerian team had earlier kept their qualification hopes alive with a hard-fought 31-26 victory over hosts Côte d’Ivoire in the 5th-8th placement match but fell just short at the final hurdle.
Nigeria will now finish the tournament in sixth position.
