U20 World Cup: FIFA confirm Flying Eagles to face Argentina, Wednesday
World football governing body, FIFA has confirmed that the Nigeria’s Flying Eagles will now face hosts, Argentina in the next round of the ongoing U20 World Cup holding in the South American country.
The fixture is billed for Wednesday, May 31, 10pm Nigerian time.
The Flying Eagles finished as third best after losing to Brazil by 2-0 in a match they only needed at least a draw to top the Group D, as Italy finished second following a 3-0 victory over Dominican Republic.
Three teams in Group D finished on six points, as all the teams were now graded on goal difference, with the Nigerian youth side ending up as third best with the least goal difference, a result of losing so many scoring chances against the Dominican Republic in a match that finished 2-1.
Italy and Brazil had beaten the same Dominican Republic by 3-0 and 6-0 scorelines, respectively.
FIFA announced the fixtures for the round of 16 after the completion of the group stage of the U-20 World Cup, Sunday.
The teams to reach the knock-out phase are Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, England, Israel, Italy, Korea Republic, New Zealand, Nigeria, Slovakia, The Gambia, Tunisia, Uruguay, USA and Uzbekistan.
The first game will see the USA take on New Zealand on Tuesday by 6.30pm.
Uzbekistan faces Israel in another last-16 clash on the same day by 10pm.
On Wednesday, Colombia takes on Slovakia in the first clash. Brazil’s opponents for their game at the same time is yet to be confirmed.
England faces fellow Europeans Italy at the same time.
Uruguay will play against Gambia on Thursday at the Santiago del Estero stadium by 14:30 while Ecuador will play against Korea Republic by 16:00 at the same venue.
The FIFA U20 World Cup closes June 11, in Argentina, the replacement hosts after the hosting rights were withdrawn from Indonesia over Israel participation –related issues.
