Nigeria get new opponents as CAF holds fresh U-20 AFCON group draw

The Flying Eagles of Nigeria have been drawn against Morocco, Tunisia, and Kenya in Group B for the 2025 men’s U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). 

The fresh group stage draw was held on Sunday. The new draw became necessary after Cote d’Ivoire pulled out as the competition’s hosts, and the country was replaced by Tunisia in the pots for participating teams.

Egypt was announced as the new tournament host with less than a month to the event.

Nigeria had been pitted against South Africa, Egypt and Morocco in the initial draw held in February.

For the new draw, all participating countries were divided into three groups. Two groups comprise four teams each, while one has five countries.

The top two teams from each group will automatically qualify for the knockout. The best two third-placed teams will also get quarter-final slots. The semi-finalists will qualify automatically for the 2025 U-20 World Cup in Chile.

The 24th U-20 AFCON is billed to be held from April 27 to May 18.

Nigeria qualified for the competition after reaching the final of the 2024 WAFU-B competition held in Lome, Togo.

The team eventually lifted the WAFU B cup after defeating Black Satellites of Ghana 2-1 in the final.

The Flying Eagles finished third in the last AFCON after losing to The Gambia in the semi-final.

FULL DRAW

GROUP A: Egypt, Zambia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania

GROUP B: Nigeria, Tunisia, Kenya, Morocco

GROUP C: Senegal, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Ghana