The Black Starlets management committee chairman, Frederick Acheampong, says Ghana’s hopes of securing a spot in the U17 AFCON will be impacted by FIFA’s recent changes to the U17 World Cup format.
At its congress, FIFA announced that the 2025 U17 World Cup will feature 48 countries, increasing Africa’s allocation from four to 10 slots. However, there is no clarity yet on how the 10 participating African nations will be determined.
The recent WAFU B U-17 tournament saw host Ghana and defending champions Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets suffer semi-final defeats against Burkina Faso and Cote D’Ivoire, respectively.
Previously, these eliminations would have meant exclusion from the CAF U-17 African Nations Cup. However, with the increased qualification slots, the teams’ fates remain uncertain due to the lack of clarity on the criteria.
Despite this, Frederick Acheampong states that the Black Starlets’ approach to the game will not change. “Our wish was to reach the finals and at least be certain of qualification to the AFCON, but we believe that all is not yet lost. When offered the opportunity to place yourself in a respectable position, you grab it. We will approach this game as we do every other game,” Acheampong revealed on Sunrise Sports on 3FM.
Acheampong wants the team to focus on defeating rivals Nigeria, which is their immediate assignment, and leave the future to unfold. “CAF is yet to update the qualification criteria as they haven’t named the host country. We don’t know how the dynamics will work out because the U17 World Cup has increased from 24 to 48 nations, and CAF’s allocation has increased from four to ten. There will likely be criteria changes for qualification from the six zonal unions.”
“We want to do our part and approach this game with all seriousness, win, and see what happens,” he concluded.
Ghana faces Nigeria at the University of Ghana Stadium in the third-place playoff match, where bragging rights are at stake between the two nations. Kickoff is at 4 pm.
