By Abigail David

Nigeria’s Flying Eagles have been drawn in Group B alongside Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo for the 2026 WAFU B U20 Championship, the qualifying tournament for the 2027 Africa U20 Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The draw, held on Wednesday, also placed hosts and defending champions Côte d’Ivoire in Group A with Niger and Benin Republic.

The Group B fixtures will see Nigeria renew its long-standing youth football rivalry with Ghana’s Black Satellites, while Burkina Faso and Togo complete the group.

The WAFU B Championship serves as the qualification tournament for the 2027 U20 AFCON, which will be hosted by Ghana. The continental competition will feature 12 teams, with the four semi-finalists earning places at the FIFA U20 World Cup.

Nigeria enters the tournament with a strong record in the regional competition. The Flying Eagles won the WAFU B title in 2022 and successfully defended it in 2024, defeating Ghana 2-1 in the final played in Lomé.

The team also reached the final of the inaugural edition in 2018 and finished runners-up at the most recent tournament after a 1-0 defeat to hosts Côte d’Ivoire.

The Flying Eagles will begin preparations for the championship as they seek another regional title and qualification for the 2027 U20 AFCON.

By Abigail David

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has revealed that he hopes to return to school and earn a university degree, saying he is preparing for life after football.

Speaking in an interview that recently resurfaced online, the Galatasaray forward said formal education remains a personal goal despite the success he has achieved in professional football.

“As an adult, not everything I learned in school. There are some kinds of life lessons you encounter through life’s journey,” Osimhen said.

The 2023 African Footballer of the Year noted that a football career is relatively short, making it important to plan for the future.

“It will be an amazing thing to get a degree because football is not something you will play for so long. After 20 or 25 years, you’re done,” he said.

Osimhen added that he hopes his decision will inspire young people who left school because of financial or personal challenges to pursue their education.

“For me, it’s to set a standard and an example to the younger generation that even if you dropped out due to challenges, you can always go back to school because the school is always there,” he said.

Osimhen has previously encouraged young footballers to balance their sporting ambitions with education, stressing that academic qualifications can provide opportunities after retirement from the game.

By Abigail David

Resale ticket prices for Friday’s FIFA World Cup quarter-final in Los Angeles have fallen sharply following the elimination of tournament co-hosts the United States and Portugal, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, according to a report by Forbes.

The report said the cheapest resale tickets for the match dropped by nearly 60 per cent, falling from about $2,950 to around $1,200 on the secondary marketplace TickPick after the Round of 16 concluded on Monday.

The decline followed the United States’ 4-1 defeat to Belgium in Seattle and Portugal’s 1-0 loss to Spain in Arlington, Texas. Forbes said the absence of both the host nation and Ronaldo, one of football’s biggest global stars, significantly reduced demand for the Los Angeles fixture.

Data cited from ticket marketplace SeatPick showed average resale prices for all World Cup quarter-final matches declined by 31.5 per cent over the past day and by 50.4 per cent over the previous three days. The number of tickets listed on secondary markets also increased from 28,285 at the start of the tournament to 49,415.

Despite the drop in quarter-final prices, demand for the World Cup final remains strong. According to Forbes, the cheapest resale ticket for the final in New Jersey on July 19 was listed at $9,346 as of Tuesday, although prices are expected to change depending on the teams that qualify.