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Again, no Olympic men’s football for Nigeria as U-23 Eagles crash in AFCON race

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Nigeria will not participate in the next Olympic Games after the U-23 Eagles fell quite early in the race to qualify for the competition.

In the last round of qualifying for the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco this year, Nigeria’s U-23 Eagles were defeated 2-0 by Guinea.

After holding the U-23 Eagles to a 0-0 stalemate in the first leg in Abuja, Guinea advanced to the AFCON 2-0 on aggregate.

Nigeria will not compete in the football competition at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris as a result of the loss.

The team was unable to go past the group stage of the 2019 U-23 AFCON, and thus also missed out on qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Read Also: Eagles played better in Abuja, but couldn’t convert chances —Peseiro

Algassime Bah and Alseny Soumah’s goals in the second half of Tuesday’s second leg were enough for Guinea to go through.

In the game played in Rabat, Morocco, 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.

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