Niger Republic on Saturday sent five-time world champions, Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets packing from the 2017 AFCON U-17 championship after they won 3-1 in Niamey to go through to the next round of the competition 3-2 on aggregate.
The reigning world champions won the first leg 1-0 in Abuja a fortnight ago, but they were not able to withstand their inspired hosts on Saturday in Niamey.
Niger will now face the winners of the qualifier between Gabon and Algeria for a place in the tournament proper in Madagascar next year.
The Eaglets first-team were decimated days to the first game in Nigeria after a staggering 26 players failed an age test (MRI) supervised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).