The Olympic Eagles of Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2023 Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the Paris 2024 Olympics, losing 2-0 to Guinea in the second leg of their fixture at the Prince Moulay Al Hassan Stadium in Rabat, Morocco.
The 2-0 Guinea victory in the final qualifying fixture means Nigeria have now lost 2-0 on aggregate after a 0-0 draw in the first leg at the Moshood Abioa National Stadium in Abuja.
Guinea opened the scoring through Algassime Bah in the 61st minute. Then in the 73rd minute, the Nigerians were stunned when Alseny Soumah scored Guinea’s second goal from a brilliant free-kick to make the scores 2-0.
The match finished 2-0 in favour of Guinea as the Nigerians could not find a way back into the match. With the victory, Guinea have now qualified for the U-23 AFCON from where Africa’s representative at the Olympics will emerge.
In a crushing blow to Nigeria’s Olympic dreams, the U-23 football team will not be competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics after the 2-0 loss to Guinea. The Olympic Eagles will also not compete at the U23 AFCON tournament.
FT in Rabat. Guinea U23 2-0 Nigeria U23 (Agg. 2-0) Unfortunately our Olympic Eagles’ journey to the U23 Afcon has ended. Thank you for your support #TotalEnergiesU23AfconQ
— The NFF 🇳🇬 (@thenff) March 28, 2023
This latest defeat marks a significant setback for the Olympic Eagles, who had hoped to stage a return to the Olympics after missing out on the action at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Tuesday’s defeat also sparked conversations about the suitability of Olympic Eagles coach Salisu Yusuf, as he also failed to qualify for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament held in Algeria.
