Nigeria’s cadet national team, Golden Eaglets have missed out on seeding for the African U-17 Cup of Nations draw, sequel to their inability to qualify for the last edition of the continental showpiece.
Footballlive.ng gathered that, for the draw in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, the hosts and Guinea hold both group seeds ahead of Nigeria, who could not defend the global title they won at Chile 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
With the Eaglets failing to reach the continental showpiece in 2017, they have fallen down the pecking order in ratings across Africa, such that the seeds and pots for Thursday’s draw did not favour Nigeria.
The draw for Tanzania 2019 will take place on Thursday at Mlimani City Conference Centre, Dar Es Salam from 4:30pm GMT.
The qualified teams are hosts Tanzania, Angola, Cameroon, Guinea, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda
The Eaglets are in Pot 2 with Morocco and Senegal, as the Nigerians did not qualify for the last edition in Rwanda, while Cameroon and Angola are in another pot, having played at the last edition.
Next year’s tournament will hold from 14 to 28 April in Dar es Salaam, with all the semi-finalists qualifying to represent the continent at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, Peru 2019.