Nigeria’s Flying Eagles have clinched the bronze medal of the 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations after thumping their Tunisian counterparts 4-nil in the competition’s third-place playoff match on Friday evening.

Ibrahim Muhammad opened the scoring for Flying Eagles, who are the record winners of the tournament with seven titles, just nine minutes into the encounter as the West African champions went into halftime with a one-goal advantage.

Less than 60 seconds into the second half, Ahmed Abdullahi, who was the villain of Nigeria’s 1-0 quarter-final loss to Gambia after missing a penalty, doubled the lead for Flying Eagles before Sunday Jude scored Nigeria’s third goal in the 48th minute from a beautiful one-man show.

The scoreline stayed the same until the cusp of the match, with Moroccans trying to reduce the deficit, while the Nigerian boys were keen on extending the gap. Just at the ticked off the 90th minute, Sunday Jude netted his brace with a powerful right-footed shot from inside the box to seal the victory for Flying Eagles.

It would be the fifth time Nigeria has finished third in the biennial tournament while Tunisia secured its fourth consecutive finish in the tournament, with both nations and the two finalists representing the continent at the FIFA U-20 World Cup scheduled for May this year.

The Young Scorpions of Gambia will face Senegal’s Young Lions of Teranga in the final of this year’s tournament at the Cairo International Stadium, Egypt, tomorrow.