U17 AFCON: Guinea Wins Dramatic 10-9 Shoot-Out To End Nigeria’s Title Hopes

Guinea have reached their first ever final of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations, following a dramatic 10-9 penalty victory over Nigeria on Wednesday.  At the end, 19 spot kicks were taken, two more than the longest since Ivory Coast and Ghana in the final of the 2015 AFCON. During the final of the 1992 African Cup of Nations played in Senegal, Ivory Coast won the penalty shootout 11–10 against Ghana. Fourteen years later, the Ivory Coast and Cameroon needed 24 penalties to decide who would advance to the semi-finals of the 2006 African Cup of Nations. The Ivory Coast advanced by winning 12–11. Eaglets defender, Ogaga Oduko hit his kick well over the cross bar in sudden death to end Nigeria’s title chances.


Defeat for Nigeria means Manu Garba have now failed to win the competition in two attempts and despite being the most successful country at the World Cup, the Eaglets have only won on the continent twice. Nigeria will now play in the third-place match against any of Cameroon or Angola. In a keenly contested semi-final at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam, it ended goalless in regulation time. Both sides put in the work for 90 minutes, but couldn’t find the breakthrough, although Guinea dominated in all the vital stats. Photo Credit: Getty

Leave a Reply