24th FIFA U20 World Cup Finals: Flying Eagles Depart For 12-Day Camping in Chile

According to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the seven-time African champions, Nigeria, will play all their Group F matches at the Estadio Fiscal in Talca, a city 250 kilometres from the Chilean capital, Santiago.

They will first confront Norway on Sept. 29 before clashes with Saudi Arabia (Oct. 2) and Colombia (Oct. 5).

Twenty players and 11 officials (midfielder Daniel Daga will join the team in Chile from his base in Norway) departed from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Sunday evening.

They are on a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul, where the contingent will connect to Santiago – venue of their final phase camping.

The seven-time African champions had training sessions in Abuja for some weeks, before Sunday’s departure.

The 24th FIFA U20 World Cup finals will be played across the cities of Santiago, Rancagua, Valparaiso, and Talca.

The competition, which started as the FIFA World Youth Tournament, was launched in 1977 and was first hosted by Tunisia.

Nigeria narrowly lost to the Republic of Korea after extra time in the semi-finals at the last championship hosted by Argentina.

The country finished as runners-up in 1989 in Saudi Arabia and in 2005 in the Netherlands.

Group A, headed by hosts Chile, also has New Zealand, Japan, and Egypt, while Group B features South Korea, Ukraine, Paraguay, and Panama.

Brazil heads Group C that also has Mexico, Morocco, and Spain, while Group D includes Italy, Australia, Cuba, and multiple winners Argentina.

The U.S., New Caledonia, France, and South Africa make up Group E.
FLYING EAGLES FOR 2025 FIFA U20 WORLD CUP FINALS

Goalkeepers: Ebenezer Harcourt (Sporting Lagos); Clinton Ezekiel (Bayelsa United); Rufa’i Abubakar (Mavlon FC).

Defenders: Ocheche Amos Onyejefu (Stade de Reims, France); Odinaka Okoro (Sporting Lagos); Daniel Bameyi (Bayelsa United); Marvelous Avberosou (Ikorodu City); Alatan Azuka (36 Lions); Akinyele Ahmed Olamide (Remo Stars).

Midfielders: Israel Ayuma (NK Istra, Croatia); Emmanuel Ekowoicho (FC Montana, Bulgaria); Mustapha Kamaldeen (Kwara Football Academy); Daniel Daga (Molde FC, Norway); Auwal Ibrahim (Akwa United); Nasiru Salihu (Qabala FC, Azerbaijan).

Forwards: Achichi Oseer (Royal Antwerp FC, Belgium); Sani Suleman (AS Trencin, Slovakia); Tahir Maigana (Wireless FC); Kparobo Arierhi (Lillestrom SK, Norway); Charles Agaba (NK Istra, Croatia); Abdullahi Shitu Ele (Manchester City FC, England)
PHOTO: The Flying Eagles just before departure from Abuja on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile the two-time World Cup silver-medallists Nigeria will kick off their race to next year’s FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals when they take on their Rwandan counterparts on Sunday, in a second round, first leg encounter in Kigali.

The Falconets are scheduled to depart the country on Thursday for the clash with the Rwandan U20 girls.

Germany, which denied Nigeria the trophy and gold medals in 2010 (Germany) and 2014 (Canada), and like Nigeria, had appeared in every edition of the competition since it was launched in 2002, failed to qualify for next year’s finals.

The clash with the Rwandan counterparts will take place at the Kigali Pele Stadium, formerly known as Stade Regional de Nyamirambo.

The Confederation of African Football has appointed match officials from Sierra Leone and Liberia to take charge of the proceedings of the encounter in Kigali.

Aminata Fullah will be the referee, with Liberian Hannah Lydia Moses as assistant referee 1 and another Sierra Leonean, Fatmata Mansaray as assistant referee 2.

The fourth official is Love Tuu Wehyee from Liberia.

Militna Ivanete Amrie from Seychelles will be the commissioner while Amegee Aissata Ameyo will be the referee assessor.

2025 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup: Flamingos notch 2 wins in friendly matches

Nigeria’s U17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, continued their preparation for the upcoming FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco with back-to-back victories in friendly matches at the FIFA Goal Project, Abuja.

On Sept. 12, the Flamingos overpowered Horvel Angels 2–0, with Chisom Nwachukwu pouncing on a goalkeeper error for the opener before Kaosara Olanrewaju sealed the win in the second half with a composed strike.

They followed it up on Saturday, 13th September 2025, with a resounding 5–0 triumph over Nazareth Angels. After a dominant first half, the Falconets raced to a 2-0 lead. Itodore Destiny added a third shortly after the restart before Terlumu Tabitha and Chisom Nwachukwu completed the rout with fine finishes as the Flamingos showcased their attacking depth despite several missed chances.

The victories underline the team’s growing sharpness in front of goal and defensive discipline as they gear up for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup holding Oct.17– Nov. 8 in Morocco, where Nigeria will face Canada, France, and Samoa in Group D. All players called up are currently in camp, giving head coach Bankole Olowookere a full complement of options as the technical crew look to fine-tune their squad for the tournament.