Nigeria will begin the defence of their WAFU B U-20 Championship title against arch-rivals Ghana in a repeat of the last edition’s final in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, on Monday (today), PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The Flying Eagles defeated the Black Satellites 2-1 in the 2024 final at the Stade de Kégué in Lomé, Togo, to successfully retain the title they first won in Niamey in 2022. Isa Ladan Bosso guided Nigeria to the 2022 triumph, while Aliyu Zubairu led the team to a successful title defence two years later.

Monday’s encounter will mark the first competitive game in charge for new head coach Abdu Maikaba, a former assistant coach of the Flying Eagles, who is targeting a winning start to Nigeria’s title defence.

“We are going for an outright victory against Ghana because our objective is to retain the trophy and we have to start winning our matches from Day One,” Maikaba said ahead of the clash.

The match will kick off at 2 p.m. local time (3 p.m. Nigeria time) at the Lycée Scientifique de Yamoussoukro.

Nigeria head into the tournament on the back of a 2-1 victory over Athlétique Club de Zenuola in a friendly match on Thursday.

The rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana dates back to 1951 and has produced several memorable contests across senior, youth and women’s football.

Victory over Ghana would put the seven-time African champions in a strong position to qualify for the semi-finals, with Group B fixtures against Togo and Burkina Faso still to come.

Nigeria will face Togo on July 30 at the same venue before rounding off their group campaign against Burkina Faso on August 2. Both matches are scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m. local time (3 p.m. Nigeria time).

Hosts Ivory Coast are in Group A alongside Benin Republic and Niger Republic.