Nigeria will compete with Morocco, Kenya and Tunisia in the group stage of the 24th Africa U20 Cup of Nations taking place in Egypt from April 27th to May 18th.
It would be recalled that the former hosts, Côte d’Ivoire, opted out of hosting the tournament in March, forfeiting their automatic qualification spot.
Their last-minute withdrawal forced the Confederation of African Football to hold another draw for the tournament on Sunday.
At the redraw conducted in the headquarters of the Egypt Football Association in Cairo on Sunday, Egypt and South Africa, who were originally in Nigeria’s pool before Côte d’Ivoire withdrew as tournament hosts, found themselves in Group A.
New hosts Egypt head Group A, which has five teams – with Zambia, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Tanzania as the other teams.
However, just like it was originally, the Flying Eagles will confront two North African teams (this time, Tunisia and Morocco), as well as East Africans Kenya, for a place in the quarter-finals.
Cup holders Senegal heads Group C, with the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana as opponents.
The seven-time African champions are expected to fly to Egypt this week for an eight-day final-phase preparation before the competition commences.
All four semi-finalists at the tournament in Egypt will represent Africa at this year’s FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile, 27th September – 19th October.
GROUP A: Egypt, Zambia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania
GROUP B: Nigeria, Tunisia, Kenya, Morocco
GROUP C: Senegal, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Ghana
