The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria will face Burkina Faso for a place in the semi-final of the 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Nigeria defeated South Africa 2-3 in the last Group B game in the competition to set up Thursday’s quarter-final clash with their fellow West Africans.

Following the win over the South Africans, Coach Nduka Ugbade praised his boys for coming back stronger after struggling to score in the loss to Morocco in their second game.

“We worked a bit in training and we did some corrections. We realized that it was purely psychological and we talked to the players and we saw an improvement today,” Ugbade said in a post-match interview. “We might have conceded two but I am glad we scored three.”

On the other hand, the Burkinabes earned their spot in the last eight after beating Cameroon 2-1 in a Group C clash Sunday night.

The game at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers, Algeria will be a rematch of the WAFU-B Championship final held last year. Nigeria beat their counterparts 2-1 to win the title.

But this time, the Burkina Faso coach Brahima Traore said his team are ready to clip the Golden Eaglets’ wings.

“We had two objectives in this tournament; first to get to the semi-finals and then to fight for the title. We will prepare well for Nigeria to enable us get to the semis and earn the World Cup ticket,” Traore told CAFonline.

In the other quarter-final games, Senegal take on South Africa, Morocco clash with Algeria and Mali fight Congo.

The last four in the competition will represent Africa at the U-17 FIFA World Cup billed for later in the year. (Channels TV)

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