Flying Eagles coach Aliyu Zubairu has promised to resolve the team’s attacking deficiencies ahead of this year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup which will be held in Chile, from 27 September to 19 October.
Zubairu led the team to a third-place finish at the 2025 U-20 AFCON in Egypt, where they scored just four goals from open play.
Their highest-scoring game was during a 2-2 draw against Kenya.
As they regroup for the World Cup in Chile, the coach, who has just quit his job with NPFL side El-Kanemi Warriors, admits that the Flying Eagles’ attack needs beefing up.
‘I think for most of us that followed what really happened during AFCON, we know that we did not find things easy. Particularly, if you look at the area of goal scoring’, Zubairu said.
‘We were having the best of position playing against any team at all. But when it comes to finishing, we really had some difficulties. But that has been taken care of and I believe the most important thing is the ticket to the World Cup which we got.
The Flying Eagles have been drawn in Group F of the 2025 U-20 World Cup, alongside Colombia, Norway, and Saudi Arabia.
They will face Norway in their first game on 29 September before Saudi Arabia on 3 October while their last group game will be against Colombia three days later.
Nigeria U-20 boys 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.
They were knocked out in the round of 16 by South Korea during the 2023 edition in Argentina.
