2024 Olympics Qualifiers: Nigeria Under-23 Team Must Beat Guinea Tonight

The Nigeria Under-23 team must qualify for the 2023 Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations in Morocco to stand a chance of making it to the Paris 2024 Olympics.

What was looking like an easy path for the Nigeria Under-23 team has become a very slim chance after the team played a goalless draw with lowly-rated Guinea at MKO Abiola Stadium on Wednesday, March 23, 2023.

Now, the last chance they have to redeem themselves and qualify for the U-23 AFCON is to beat Guinea away from home later tonight. If the U-23 Syli National of Guinea manages to beat the Nigerian side tonight, their dream of playing in the Paris Summer Olympics is over.

The must-win game is scheduled to kick off at 19:00 (7 Pm Nigeria time) at the Complexe Sportif Prince Heritier Moulay Al Hassan in Rabat, Morocco tonight, March 28.

Ahead of the game which could qualify Nigeria’s Under-23 team for the 2023 U-23 AFCON in Morocco and subsequently the Olympics, the coach of the team, Salisu Yusuf believes that his team knows what is at stake.

He said, “The players know that reaching the Africa Cup of Nations presents them a tremendous opportunity to fight hard for a ticket to the Olympics, which is a global tournament.

“We believe they can help us stake a very strong claim to the ticket, and we will be aiming for a good win. The second leg is on neutral ground, but we don’t want to entertain that in our minds. We have the objective of working assiduously to wrap up things.”

Note that the U-23 AFCON will kick off in Morocco between 24 June and 8 July 2023. The teams that finish in the top three will automatically qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. While the team that finishes 4th will play in the AFC–CAF playoffs to decide the final slot at the Olympics.