The Golden Eaglets will entertain the baby Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in Saturday’s second Semi-Final match at the ongoing WAFU Zone B Championship in Accra Ghana.
The Nigerian U17 team are the defending champions and are coming into today’s game as group B winners.
The young Ivorians finished second behind Ghana’s Black Starlets in group A, having lost their first game by 5-1 to Ghana, but secured a maximum point against Benin Republic which was enough to take them through to this stage of the tournament.
The Baby Elephants lost to Nigeria at this stage of the last edition in Cape Coast to hand Nigeria the final ticket. Hence the two teams aren’t new to each other.
Whilst the Baby Elephants would be looking forward to eliminate that memory of 2022, the Golden Eaglets will fancy the chance of not only having the opportunity to retain their title, but to securing a ticket to the next CAF OF U17 African Cup of Nations.
Head-To-Head
Placing these two teams side by side based on their previous and recent meetings, the Baby Elephants have had the upper hands, winning three of such meetings, lost two and drew one.
At the last WAFU B U17 Boys Championship in Cape Coast, Nigeria triumphed 3-1 to reach the final of that year’s edition of the tournament. In 2021 the Golden Eaglets lost twice to the Baby Elephants, 0-1 in group stage and 2-3 during the final of that year’s edition of the tournament WAFU B U17 Boys tournament.
Similar situation played out at the 2017 edition where Ivory Coast defeated Nigeria 1-0 in the group stage but both teams played a 1-1 in the knockout stage.
Current Form & Prediction
Both teams started this tournament on a shaky and slow pace, with Nigeria being held to a goalless draw by Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast were humiliated by the host with a 5-1 spanking on match day one.
But they have since pick up the pieces and are here now vying for the qualifications to the next CAF AFCON and a chance to emerge winners of the WAFU B U17 Boys Championship.
Nigeria edge Niger by a lone goal in their second group game and went on to trash Togo 3-0 in the final group B game.
Ivory Coast secured maximum points via a 2-0 victory against Benin Republic on match day two.
Looking at history, their current form and style of play, both teams have what it takes to edge one another.
Hence, this is going to be a keenly contested game of football. But who will triumphed after 90 minutes.
We are predicting a Nigeria victory via spot kicks. Yes, we believe the match will go all the way to penalty kicks and Nigeria should carry the day.
Please note that predictions may differ from the actual outcome of the game.
How To Watch Nigeria vs Côte d’Ivoire Live
The match is scheduled for Saturday May 25, 2024 9PM GMT +1 at the Acra University stadium.