The Young Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire took home the 2025 WAFU B U20 Boys Tournament trophy after a 1-0 defeat of Nigeria’s Flying Eagles in the competition’s final played in Accra, Ghana on Wednesday.
The Ivorian boys had an unblemished tournament, winning all their five matches and stamping their authority on each, with a disciplined and dedicated squad that rose to the occasion each time to decimate their opponents.
Their superiority was not in question as they edged Burkina Faso 2-1 in their first match, conquered Niger Republic and Togo with 1-0 and 2-0 scorelines in their other two matches in the group phase, and came from behind to defeat host nation Ghana 2-1 in the semi finals.
Seven-time African champions Nigeria turned out a hard nut to crack for the Ivorians in Wednesday’s final, but they finally found a way through when goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt dropped the ball from a free-kick in added time, allowing an alert Zakaria Tindano to poke into the net for the only goal of the encounter.
2025-07-24