The road to Bahamas
With the home crowd behind them, Nigeria embarked on their 2016 CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations campaign on 13 December last year with high hopes of capturing the trophy and drawing level with Senegal as the competition’s most decorated team. Despite being beaten 3-1 on penalties by Côte d’Ivoire (4-4 aet) in the group stage, they advanced to the semi-finals courtesy of narrow wins over Egypt (3-2) and Ghana (4-3). They then swept past Morocco 6-1 in the last four to clinch a berth at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Bahamas 2017. However, there was to be no fairy-tale ending for the hosts, who were powerless to prevent Senegal securing a fourth crown with an 8-4 victory in the final on 18 December, a result that cemented the Lions of Teranga’s position as Africa’s champions on the sand.