Nigeria’s U-20 national football team, the Flying Eagles, departed Abuja on Sunday night for Chile in order to finalise their preparations for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in the host country,
The tournament will be played from 27 September to 19 October.
The seven-time African champions are on a mission to end Nigeria’s long wait for a first-ever FIFA U-20 World Cup title, having camped in Abuja for the last one month.
The two-week training camp in Chile begins on Tuesday.
The team will also play some friendlies lined up against Chilean opposition to help the players adapt to the unique weather, altitude, and playing conditions in South America.
The Flying Eagles have been drawn in Group F of the tournament, alongside Colombia, Norway, and Saudi Arabia.
Nigeria will open their Group D campaign against Norway on Monday, 29 September, before facing Saudi Arabia three days later while they face Colombia in what could prove a decisive encounter on 5 October.
Head coach Aliyu Zubairu selected players from Nigerian academies, NPFL clubs, and European outfits. Some of them include Kparobo Arierhi, who is on loan at Norwegian club Mjøndalen IF from Lillestrøm SK as well as Sporing Lagos goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt.
The team will miss defender Adamu Ba’aba Maigari, who was ruled out due to a knee injury.
Zubairu is expected to announce his final 21-man squad on Friday, 19 September.
The coach has also set a target of surpassing Nigeria’s previous run at the tournament.
‘Coming out of the group is not that we should not negotiate or compromise’, Zubair said in the team’s camp in Abuja.
‘We are getting information on our opponents as well, their strengths and individual abilities. We respect all the teams in the group. We are not underestimating them, and we cannot compromise, as long as we have the ambition of going beyond our past record’.
The Flying Eagles have twice finished as runners-up in the tournament’s history — the first time in 1989, when they were edged out by Portugal, and again in 2005, losing to a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina side.
