- Burkina Faso beat Nigeria 2-1
- Mali thrashed Congo 3-0
- Burkina Faso and Mali have qualified for the FIFA World Cup
Burkina Faso and Mali have progressed to the semi-finals of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations after winning their quarter final duels, and in the end booking the remaining two slots to the FIFA World Cup.
Burkina Faso stunned five-time world champions Nigeria 2-1 while Mali thrashed Congo Brazzaville 3-0 in the early kick off.
In the biggest result of the day, it was the Burkinabe who made the most of their chances, while Nigeria was made to pay for many missed opportunities.
Aboubacar Camara scored a brace for the Junior Stallions to earn them victory in the tightly contested duel.
Nigeria had most of the chances in the opening minutes.
Charles Agada had a chance as early as after a minute and 29 seconds when he went through on goal from a Tochukwu Ogbabido pass, but the keeper made a brilliant block one on one.
Flurry of more chances
In the seventh minute, Abubakar Abdullahi had a rasping shot from the edge of the box grease the crossbar while on the quarter hour mark, Agada saw his effort come off the upright from close range.
In the 37th minute, Agada once again had a chance when he broke through on the right but his shot was well saved by the keeper.
In the final five minutes of the half, Burkina Faso raised their tempo and, they went ahead when Camara scored from close range after Nigerian defender Tochukwu Ogboji miscued his clearance from inside the box.
In the second half, Burkina Faso doubled their tally just 10 minutes after the restart, Camara completing his brace from the penalty spot after Souleymane Alio was brought down inside the box by Ogboji.
With a two-goal mountain to climb, Nigeria increased their efforts upfront and they halved the deficit in the 67th minute when Abdullahi tapped home from close range after a cross from Emmanuel Michael.
The Golden Eaglets piled the pressure to try get a draw and force the game beyond the 90 minutes. Despite concerted efforts, Nigeria’s bid to turn the game in their favour didn’t succeed.
Mali dominant over Congo
Mali celebrate their win over Congo. PHOTO/CAF
In the early kick off, Mali were completely dominant over Congo.
Ange Tia, Mamadou Doumbia and Mohamoud Barry got the three goals for the Malian side.
Tia got Mali infront after just eight minutes with a brilliant break into the box from a Doumbia through ball and a shot into the far left.
Mali was dominant from the word go and limited Congo’s movement upfront, pinning them into their own half. Doumbia almost made it 2-0 for Mali in the 26th minute with a shot on the half turn from the edge of the box, but it went just wide.
Five minutes later though, he made it 2-0 with a low finish after a defense splitting pass from Barry found him well placed.
In the second half, Mali continued with the same pressure and they thought to have had a third in the 53rd minute when Doumbia put skipper Ibrahim Diarra through, but his goal was ruled out for offside.
A minute later though, they were 3-0 up. Barry converted from the penalty spot after his initial cross was handled inside the box by Brad-Hamilton Mantsounga.
Congo were awarded a late penalty by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) after Geltany Stalgout Bantsiele was brought down by Gaoussou Kone inside the box. Bantsiele took responsibility but keeper Bourama Kone made a brilliant save to keep his clean sheet record in the tournament intact.
Mali will now face off with Morocco in the semi-finals on Sunday in Constantine.
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