Nigeria, Ghana into U17 World Cup
Nigeria and Ghana have booked their places at the under-17 World Cup after Wednesday's wins at the African junior championship in Togo.
Nigeria qualified for the tournament in South Korea in August after edging out Burkina Faso 2-1 while a hat-trick from Adams Sadick inspired Ghana to a 6-0 thrashing of Eritrea to advance.
The two former world champions secured the two Group B tickets to the semi finals after completing wins in their first two games in competition.
The Golden Eaglets needed a late strike from substitute Akinsola Kabiru to win the game in Kegue.
But is was Bande Mahamadi, who fired the Bukinabes into the lead on nine minutes after Nigeria lost a golden opportunity to open the scoring when Osanga King missed from the spot.
Nigeria drew level on the half hour mark through Oseni Gani before Kabiru's strike with only ten minutes remaining to set up the tie against Ghana on Sunday to decide who wins the group.
"The early penalty miss really worked against us. But, I praise the efforts of my players for braving the odds to win the game," Nigeria coach Adeyemi Tella said.
"The low score line does not in any way rub off our first scoreline against Eritrea. We are sure going to win the cup. Ghana can't stop us from winning the championship."
The Black Starlets prepared were keen to secure their place at the World Cup before playing the Nigerian and were 2-0 up by the 10th minute.
Osei Ransford cracked home the opener with Quansah Abeiku extending the lead before Ismael Yartey's strike five minutes after the interval.
Sadick's hat-trick in the last 20 minutes completed the comprehensive win over the Eritreans.
Ghana coach, Osam Doudu said: "It was a game we would have won with a wider margin. But, all the same it is okay for me.
"As we prepare for Nigeria in our last game, I must state that I don't fear any team but I respect all teams even the one I just defeated. We are prepared for them."
The final two clashes in Group A take place on Saturday with South Africa taking on Tunisia while Togo play Gabon to decide the top two finishers from the group.