U-17 World Cup - Nigeria, Burkina Faso make it to knockout stage

Only two African countries, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, make it into the knockout stage of the U-17 World Cup. Hosts and defending champions, Nigeria, won their group but they always looked a shaky side after surviving a scare from the Germans on the opening day. They beat Honduras by a lone goal and got the better of the Argentinians 2-1. Burkina Faso finished second in its group with a mere four points. The other African countries, Gambia, Algeria, and Malawi finished last in their groups with the last two not being able to make a single point. But there were other big time losers too. Three time winners, Brazil, and football giants, Holland, did not make it past the group stage. In the next round, Nigeria will take on surprise qualifiers, New Zealand, (November 4th) while Burkina Faso will have a much more difficult task against Spain (November 5th) which went through the group stage winning all their matches.

Nov. 1st, 2009