FIFA U-20 World Cup kicks off in Argentina, Saturday, as Nigeria’s Flying Eagles face Dominican Rep, May 21

FIFA U-20 World Cup is set to kick off, Saturday, May 20, in Argentina, with Nigeria’s youth national team, the Flying Eagles already in the city for the tournament and scheduled to face the Dominican Republic, Sunday, May 21.

The 21-man squad includes three goalkeepers, six defenders, midfielders, and forwards each.

The Nigerian representatives will face the Dominican Republic on May 21, Italy on May 24 and conclude Group D round of preliminary matches against Brazil on May 27.

The draw for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Argentina 2023 had held in Zurich, Switzerland, Friday, April 21, with the Flying Eagles confirmed in Group D, and seeded third. Italy and Brazil are seeded first and second in the same Group D, respectively, while Dominican Republic are the fourth-seeded team.

The Flying Eagles, silver and bronze medalists in the tournament will square up to multiple winners, Brazil, the South American giants, in what is expected to be the star match of the competition. Italy are the European giants at the youth level.

Ahead of the tournament opening proper, the Flying Eagles had played two friendly matches against a local second division side in Argentina, Club Almirante Brown, in Buenos Aires, which the Nigerian team beat 3-2 with goals from Salim Fago, Emmanuel Umeh and Tochukwu Nnadi, played, Friday, May 12.

A second friendly match against the Colombia national U20 team and played on May 16, ended in a 2-2 draw.

Abel Ogwuche’s own goal gave Colombia the lead but Jude Sunday got Nigeria back on level terms with a fine effort. Colombia scored two more in the second half before the Flying Eagles responded through Mohammed Beji and Emmanuel Umeh to tie the game.

The two matches were part of a 10-day training camp in Buenos Aires, after which the team moved to the city of Mendoza, venue of their first two Group D matches in the tournament against the Dominican Republic and Italy U20 sides.

Other African representatives, Senegal are seeded first in Group C alongside, Japan, Israel, Colombia, while Tunisia are last in Group E, with Uruguay as first, Iraq, England, respectively.

The Gambia are seeded third in Group F along with France, South Korea, Honduras, seeded last.

All four African qualifiers emerged at the junior AFCON tournament hosted in Egypt, earlier in the year. All semi-finalists qualify for the World Cup, according to AFCON rules.

The FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023 will take place across four cities: La Plata, Mendoza, San Juan and Santiago del Estero.

The tournament will kick-off on May 20 with four matches on the opening day in San Juan and Santiago del Estero, including hosts Argentina taking on Uzbekistan in Santiago del Estero Stadium.

Both cities will also play host to the quarter-final, while La Plata Stadium will host the semi-finals, play-off for third place and the final.

Argentina were confirmed as new hosts of the tournament after FIFA withdrew the hosting rights of Indonesia following a dispute over the participation of Israel.

According to match schedule released, the tournament hosts Argentina to open campaign against Uzbekistan, May 20.

The full list of pairings:

Group A: Argentina, Uzbekhistan, Guatemala, New Zealand

Group B: USA, Ecuador, Fiji, Slovakia

Group C: Senegal, Japan, Israel, Colombia

Group D: Italy, Brazil, Nigeria, Dominican Republic

Group E: Uruguay, Iraq, England, Tunisia

Group F: France, Korea Republic, The Gambia, Honduras

The Flying Eagles Team Sheet:

Goalkeepers

Chijioke Aniagboso

Nathaniel Nwosu

Saheed Jimoh

Midfielders

Daniel Daga

Samsom Lawal

Victor Elefu

Ibrahim Abdulllahi

John Joshua

Tochukwu Nnadi

Defenders

Daniel Bameyi

Benjamin Frederick

Israel Domingo

Abel Ogwuche

Augustine Njoku

Solomon Abalaka

Forwards

Haliru Sarki

Jude Sunday

Ibrahim Mohammed

Lawal Salem Fago

Kehinde Ibrahim

Emmanuel Umeh