Nigeria on Saturday beat Ghana 3-1 on penalties, after a 1-1 draw in regulation time, to win the 2018 WAFU U-17 Cup of Nations in Niger.
The Golden Eaglets have thus qualified for the 2019 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Tanzania.
The WAFU tournament served as qualifiers for the 2019 U-17 AFCON, under which new format only the winners of regional tournaments progress to the continental competition.
After a scoreless first half, the Ghanaians took the lead in the 54th minute but the Eaglets equalised five minutes later through Akinkunmi Amoo.
The game became a ding-dong affair as both sides searched for the winner.
In the penalty shootout, Ghana missed two out of five kicks while Nigeria converted three out of five kicks to emerge as winners.
The Eaglets began the tournament with a 3-2 loss to Burkina Faso in the first match but bounced back with a 5-1 win over Ivory Coast to top Group B. They defeated Niger in the semi-final before Saturday’s win over rivals Ghana.
The 2019 U-17 AFCON holds in Tanzania between May 12 and 26. The top three teams at the tournament will represent Africa at the 2019 U-17 World Cup in Peru.
