Senegal are once again champions of Africa after winning the Africa U17 Cup of Nations in Algeria following dramatic victory over Morocco in the final.
The West Africans continue to dominate the continent, having already won the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations at senior level, the CHAN championship, the U20 AFCON and the Beach Soccer Championship within a year.
On Friday night, the U17 side produced a strong finish to come back from a goal down to beat the Atlas Cubs and win the tournament for the first time in their history.
Abdelhamid Boudlal’s first half header opened the scoring for the North Africans after just 14 minutes.
The Moroccans enjoyed most of the possession in the first-half and seemed to be headed for glory until the last 10 minutes.
The Teranga Cubs responded after 80 minutes of labouring for an equalizer after Serigne Diouf converted from the spot following a penalty which was awarded the West Africans.
Mamadou Sawane snatched victory with seven minutes remaining after rising high to head the winner.
Senegal and runners-up Morocco as well as third-place Burkina Faso will represent Africa at the U17 FIFA World Cup.
The U17 teams of Morocco and Algeria sent a message of peace and unity to their leaders, after coming together for a photograph before their quarter-final clash at the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
Tensions between the two nations have been high in recent times, with Morocco failing to show up at the CHAN tournament earlier this year due to the countries’ poor political relationship.
Super Eagles to Know Opponents for 2026 World Cup Qualifiers
Super Eagles of Nigeria who are three-time African champions will know their opponents for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on July 12 with the target of them getting the ticket this time around.
The Nigerian national team missed the 2022 World Cup in Qatar losing the play-offs against Ghana which came as a painful pill for many Nigerians at home and abroad.
Black Stars forced the Super Eagles to a goalless draw in the first leg and they got a 1-1 draw in the return leg at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja.
The draws will be made on the 12th of July, and all 54 nations that are part of CAF will participate. The countries will be put in nine groups, which means each group will have six teams.
America, Mexico, and Canada are the three nations that will host the 2026 World Cup.
Earlier, Ibrahim Gusau, President of the Nigerian Football Federation, has finally responded to speculation surrounding the future of Jose Peseiro as the Super Eagles coach.
It’s been a year since Jose Peseiro was hired under the past NFF board led by Amaju Pinnick, with the Portuguese given the task of changing the fortune of the Super Eagles after their failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
However, the former Venezuela gaffer has not been finding it easy in charge of the three-time African champions. He has only won three out of his eight games.
