Two Buruj FC teenagers are heading to Abuja’s Golden Eaglets camp, and the timing couldn’t matter more for a team desperate to end years of painful underachievement at youth level.
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The Nigeria Football Federation has handed Golden Eaglets call-ups to Buruj FC midfielders Raheem Moyinoluwa Salaudeen and Fawas Ayomide Adeleke, directing the pair to report to the national U-17 camp in Abuja as the federation begins a fresh rebuild cycle ahead of the 2026 WAFU B U-17 Boys Championship.
The duo have been rewarded for their consistent performances in the Nationwide League One, where they established themselves as two of the most promising young midfielders in Nigerian grassroots football. Their call up lands at a moment when the Golden Eaglets setup is undergoing one of its most significant structural overhauls in years, as reported by FootballInNigeria.com.ng.
Buruj FC confirmed the invitations with pride, backing both players to represent the club and the country with the quality their club form has earned.
A Rebuild With Genuine Urgency
The backdrop to this call-up is one that every Nigerian football fan knows too well. The Golden Eaglets, five time FIFA U-17 World Cup champions, have now missed three consecutive editions of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations. The most recent failure came in September 2025, when Nigeria lost 2-0 to Ghana in the WAFU B semi finals and were denied a place at the 2026 U-17 AFCON in Morocco. It was the second straight WAFU B exit at the semi-final stage.
Following those back to back setbacks, the NFF moved to restructure the entire technical setup. New head coach Eboboritse Uwejamomere replaced long serving youth coach Manu Garba in May 2026, charged with rebuilding the squad from the ground up in time for the next WAFU B Championship cycle in September. His technical crew now includes assistant coaches Olumide Ajibolade, Mohammed Kachala, and goalkeeping trainer Abdullahi Isa. The current Abuja camp, held at the Goal Project Pitch inside the MKO Abiola National Stadium, is where that work begins.
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Salaudeen and Adeleke: Not First-Timers on This Stage
What makes this call-up particularly credible is that neither Salaudeen nor Adeleke is walking into the system blind. Both players represented Nigeria at U-15 level during the two legged international friendlies against Morocco in 2023, gaining exposure to the demands of international football at a young age. They were also part of the Nigerian contingent that competed at the African School Games in Algeria in 2024 and returned for the 2025 edition in Burkina Faso. That’s a body of experience that most teenagers at NLO level simply don’t carry.
Their progression from the U-15 setup into the Golden Eaglets frame speaks to the kind of steady development the NFF’s youth system needs more of. Clubs like Buruj FC, operating outside the spotlight of the NPFL, are producing players who are ready when the national team comes calling.
What the Golden Eaglets Have Lost and Need to Reclaim
The scale of the task facing Uwejamomere and his new charges is hard to overstate. Nigeria remain the most successful nation in FIFA U-17 World Cup history, with titles in 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013, and 2015. The 2015 triumph was spearheaded by a certain Victor Osimhen, who scored a record 10 goals in that tournament alone. Nwankwo Kanu came through the 1993 set; John Obi Mikel from the 2003 crop; Kelechi Iheanacho and Samuel Chukwueze from the 2013 and 2015 squads respectively. The Golden Eaglets pipeline built Nigerian football for decades.
That pipeline has stalled. Failing to qualify for the last three U-17 AFCONs means Nigeria has also missed out on the FIFA U-17 World Cups that follow, cutting off the pathway through which the nation has consistently produced top flight talent for the Super Eagles. The current camp is not just about finding players for one tournament. It is about repairing a system.
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Why Grassroots Talent Like Buruj FC Matters Now
The NFF’s new coaching approach under Uwejamomere places deliberate emphasis on data-driven scouting and tactical development over the raw physical selection methods of the past. That philosophy demands a wider net of discovery, reaching into academies and NLO clubs that haven’t always had a direct line to the national youth setup. Buruj FC’s pair getting this chance is part of that shift.
Salaudeen and Adeleke now walk into a camp where the standards are being reset and the pressure to deliver is real. The WAFU B Championship in September is only a few months away, and the new technical team doesn’t have the luxury of a long runway. Every player in that Abuja camp is in competition, and the duo from Buruj FC are there on merit. What they do with the opportunity is the next chapter of their story.
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📌 Did You Know?
- Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets won the very first FIFA U-17 World Championship ever held, defeating West Germany 2-0 in the 1985 final, which was hosted in China.
- Victor Osimhen’s 10 goals at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup remain the record for most goals scored by a single player in one edition of the tournament.
- Nigeria are one of only two nations in history to win back to back FIFA U-17 World Cup titles, achieving the feat in 2013 and 2015, matching Brazil who did it in 1997 and 1999.
- New Golden Eaglets head coach Eboboritse Uwejamomere holds a UEFA A Licence, a UEFA Elite Youth A Licence, and a Master’s degree in Advanced Performance Football Coaching from the University of South Wales.
- The 2026 WAFU B U-17 Championship in September will be Nigeria’s first major qualification attempt since the September 2025 exit where the Eaglets finished third, beating Burkina Faso 2-0 in the bronze medal play-off.
- Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the last three U-17 AFCONs has also automatically kept them out of three consecutive FIFA U-17 World Cups, a drought that would have been unimaginable to fans of the 2013 and 2015 title-winning squads.
- The Nationwide League One (NLO), where Salaudeen and Adeleke play their club football at Buruj FC, sits at Nigeria’s third tier of professional football and has historically served as a development pathway for players who later rise through the NLO and NPFL systems.
