By Olukayode olumuyiwa
Nigeria’s U-20 men’s football team began their World Cup journey in Chile on a disappointing note. Rasmus Holten’s penalty made the difference when the Flying Eagles faced Norway in the first game of their group encounter at the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup.
The West African side will next take on Saudi Arabia on Friday, the 3rd of October 2025, in their second group game, hoping to right the wrongs in order to have a chance of progressing to the next phase.
The Flying Eagles are currently third in Group F, which consists of Colombia, Norway, and Saudi Arabia, with Colombia leading the group after the first game.
Despite Nigeria being one of the top youth football nations in the world, the one title that has eluded them at the age-group level is this one. They have come close, finishing as runners-up to Portugal in 1989 in Saudi Arabia and in 2005 in the Netherlands, where a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina pipped them to the post.
The reigning champions are Uruguay, who won their first title at the 2023 tournament in Argentina.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup is a biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men’s national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977, when it was hosted by Tunisia under the name FIFA World Youth Championship until 2005.
The current Flying Eagles squad will be hoping to break the record in Chile, the venue for this year’s tournament. After starting with a loss, they will be looking to crawl back into the competition. Perhaps they can achieve greatness, but for now, fingers crossed as we watch with keen interest how they navigate the hurdles in this tournament.
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