U-23 Eagles miss out on olympic qualification again after defeat to Guinea

Nigeria’s U-23 Eagles lost 2-0 to Guinea in the final qualifiers for this year’s U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

Guinea progressed to the AFCON 2-0 on aggregate after holding the U-23 Eagles to a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Abuja.

The defeat means the U-23 Eagles will not feature in the football event at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Also the team failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after failing to go past the group stage of the 2019 U-23 AFCON.

And in Tuesday’s second leg against Guinea which was played in Rabat, Morocco, second half goals from Algassime Bah and Alseny Soumah sealed qualification for Guinea.

Bah opened scoring in the 62nd minute before Soumah doubled their lead with 15 minutes left.

The 2023 U-23 AFCON which will be the 4th edition will be hosted by Morocco between 24 June and 8 July 2023.

The top three teams of this edition of the tournament will qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympic men’s football tournament in Paris while the 4th-placed team will play the Asian Football Confederation–CAF playoffs to decide the final slot at the Olympics.