Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets suffered a 1 – 0 defeat to Ivory Coast in their opening match of the West Africa Football Union U17 championship in Lome on Wednesday.

The Eaglets started the match slowly and it was goalkeeper Destiny Emuwahen who prevented them from going behind in the first half.

Nigeria’s best chance of the game fell to Joseph Arumala in the 37th minute, but his low drive failed to hit the target.

After a goalless first half, Mezian Charles finally broke the deadlock for the Ivorians in the 76th minute of the encounter.

Charles’s strike proved to be decisive as the Fatai Osho-tutored side failed to find an equaliser before the final whistle.

The Eaglets will play their next game against Ghana on Saturday. Failure to win will see them crash out of the tournament.