Nigeria’s B-squad will battle Togo in their first match of the new look West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup of Nations in Thies, Senegal come September, megasportsarena.com reports.
The home-based Eagles are rated among the favourites to win this year’s edition of the regional competition, which is billed to run from 28th of September to 13th October, following their runners-up spot last time.
However, the Nigerian coaches and players will have to learn the rules of a new format for the competition, which now has a first round straight knock-out structure that then divides into two phases.
While the winners of all first round matches will move on to challenge for the West African trophy, the losers go on to contest for The Plate.
All the matches of both phases will then proceed in the same knockout format until the winner emerges on 13th October.
Morocco have been invited to take part in the competition as a result of a FIFA ban that bars Sierra Leone from international football, which also saw the country thrown out of the 2019 AFCON qualifying series.
Hosts Senegal will open the WAFU Cup of Nations against Guinea Bissau on 28th September, while Nigeria, who lost to host nation Ghana in the final of the last edition, will battle Togo’s Hawks on 29th September.
THE FULL FIXTURES: Nigeria Vs Togo, Senegal Vs Guinea Bissau, Ghana Vs Gambia, Morocco Vs Liberia, Mali Vs Niger Republic, Cote d’Ivoire Vs Cape Verde, Burkina Faso Vs Mauritania, and Guinea Vs Benin Republic.
