Golden Eaglets Coach Manu Garba Slams CAF Over Limited U-17 AFCON Slots for WAFU B

Head coach of Nigeria’s U-17 men’s team, the Golden Eaglets, Manu Garba, has criticised the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for restricting WAFU B to just two qualifying slots for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Nigeria missed out on a place at the 2026 U-17 AFCON after a 2-0 semi-final defeat to Ghana at the WAFU B tournament in Ivory Coast, ruling them out of both the continental showpiece and the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

This marks a repeat of their 2024 setback, when they also failed to qualify for the 2025 edition of the tournament.

Garba, who guided Nigeria to the FIFA U-17 World Cup title in 2013, argued that WAFU B, widely regarded as Africa’s strongest youth football zone, deserves more slots.

“When WAFU B began, only one country qualified despite having seven teams. I raised concerns then because this zone is the strongest in Africa,” Garba said after the loss to Ghana. “It is unfair that CAF gives us only two slots. Nigeria remains number one globally at the U-17 level, and a zone like WAFU B should get at least three slots.”

Despite Nigeria’s record five FIFA U-17 World Cup titles (1985, 1993, 2007, 2013, 2015), the Golden Eaglets last featured in the tournament in 2019, crashing out in the round of 16 against the Netherlands.

With CAF’s current slot allocation, Ghana and Ivory Coast will represent WAFU B at the 2026 U-17 AFCON.