Nigeria’s U17 team, the Golden Eaglets, will play no part at the 2017 Africa U17 Cup of Nations, following a 3-1 defeat to Niger Republic on Saturday.
Coach Manu Garba’s team made the trip to Niamey with a 1-0 home advantage a fortnight ago in Abuja.
Anything other than defeat would have sealed the country’s progress to the third round.
But a shocking display at the Stade Seyni Kountché in which they shipped in three goals ended that quest.
The implication is that the Golden Eaglets will miss next year’s tournament in Madagascar.
As a result, the two-time African champions won’t be defending their world title they won last year in Chile.
And for the first time in the history, Nigeria will be missing out of the senior, U20 and U17 AFCON.
