Nigeria continued their dominance over Ghana in the age-group tournaments as the Flying Eagles defeated the Black Satellites 4-2 in their 2026 WAFU B U20 Championship opener on Monday, www.aclsports.com reports.
The Group B opener was expected to have a lot of fireworks, and it did not disappoint, as the Flying Eagles confirmed their superiority over the Ghanaians once again. It is the third consecutive win for Nigeria against Ghana at this level.
Head coach Abdu Maikaba spoke about a winning start from his boys before the game at Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro, and right-back Olayemi Ayinla set the tone for the win with an opening goal in the opening ten minutes of the contest.
It took 20 minutes for Ghana to find a response, and it came from Mohammed Zaida, but just eight minutes later, midfielder Oraro Lucky saw his free-kick effort deflected beyond the goalkeeper to restore Nigeria’s lead.
Former U17 striker Abdulmuiz Adeleke then stepped up to score from the penalty spot in the 40th minute to extend Nigeria’s lead against the Satellites as they went into the break firmly in control.
Having been battered in the first half, Ghana came out from the changing room fighting better and in search of a way back into the contest. Skipper Kelvin Nkrumah pulled one back for them from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute.
However, Maikaba’s boys managed to maintain their lead until Adeleke scored again from the spot in the 90th minute, making amends for his earlier 1-v-1 miss. The win puts Nigeria in a great position to advance.
Meanwhile, Burkina Faso and Togo will face off in the other group game on Monday evening.
Nigeria will trade tackles with the Sparrow Hawks of Togo on 30th July in their second game before their final group game against the Young Stallions of Burkina Faso on 2nd August.
