After a shaky start to their 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup campaign in Chile (losing 1-0 to Norway) Nigeria’s Flying Eagles managed to qualify for the round of 16, going through as one of the third best placed teams.
Qualification was achieved thanks to their hard-fought 1-1 draw with Colombia in their final Group F fixture.
However, things doesn’t get much easier for Nigeria, as they will now face the most successful team in the history of the FIFA men’s U-20 World Cup, Argentina (six titles) in the first knockout round on Wednesday.
This would be the 14th time the Flying Eagles will face a team from South America at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Unfortunately, it has not been favourable for the Flying Eagles in past meetings with South American oppositions at the competition, as they have managed just one win, two draws and have suffered 10 defeats in the previous 13 encounters.
Ahead of Wednesday’s clash, here are the results of the Flying Eagles against South American opponents at the U-20 World Cup, as compiled by Completesports.com’s James Agberebi
Brazil 3-0 Nigeria (1983 – Group Stage)
The 1983 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Mexico was the first time the Flying Eagles will feature at the tournament.
The team was drawn in the same group with Brazil, the Netherlands and USSR (now Russia).
After a shock 1-0 win against Russia in their opening match, the Flying Eagles were hammered 3-0 by Brazil in their second fixture.
In the must-win clash with the Netherlands, the team could only manage a 0-0 draw which was not enough to see them progress to the quarter-finals.
Brazil 2-0 Nigeria (1985 – Semi-finals)
The Flying Eagles had a better outing at the 1985 edition in Russia as they finished third.
Emerging from a group that had Canada (2-0 win) Russia (2-1 defeat) and Australia (3-2 win), the Flying Eagles edged out Mexico 2-1 in the quarter-finals.
Their impressive run was, however, ended in the semi-final following a 2-0 loss to Brazil.
In the third-placed match with Russia, the Flying Eagles won 3-1 on penalties after extra-time ended goalless.
Brazil 4-0 Nigeria (1987 – Group Stage)
The Flying Eagles squad went to the 1987 edition with high expectations, with not a few tipping them to go all the way and even winning the tournament for the first time.
But it was not to be as the team began their campaign on a disastrous note losing 4-0 to Brazil.
They never recovered from the heavy defeat as they drew 2-2 with Canada in their second match before falling 2-0 to Italy and crashed out at the group stage.
Paraguay 2-1 Nigeria (1999 – Group Stage)
After missing the 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997 editions, the Flying Eagles returned to the FIFA U-20 World Cup when Nigeria hosted the tournament in 1999.
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The Flying Eagles faced Costa Rica in the opening match and settled for a 1-1 draw before defeating Germany 2-0 in their next tie.
But in their final group match the Flying Eagles lost 2-1 to Paraguay but still managed to scale through to the round of 16.
A penalty shootout win against Republic of Ireland (1-1 draw in regulation and extra-time) saw the Flying Eagles face Mali in the quarter-finals which, unfortunately, ended in a 3-1 defeat.
Nigeria 0-0 Brazil (2005 – Group Stage)
The 2005 edition of the U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands, saw the Flying Eagles open their campaign against Brazil.
Unlike the previous clashes the Flying Eagles held Brazil to a 0-0, marking the first time they will avoid defeat against a South American side at the U-20 World Cup.
After the draw with Brazil the Flying Eagles lost 2-1 to South Korea but beat Switzerland 3-0 in their final group game to advance to the round of 16.
Argentina 2-1 Nigeria ( 2005 – Final)
Despite a brilliant run all the way to the final, the Flying Eagles lost 2-1 to Argentina at the 2005 tournament.
Two well taken penalties by Lionel Messi secured the win for the South Americans.
Chile 4-0 Nigeria (2007 – Quarter-finals)
Under the tutelage of Ladan Bosso, the Flying Eagles finished second in a group that had Costa Rica, Scotland and Japan.
The round of 16 saw them come up against African opposition, Zambia, which the Flying Eagles won 2-1.
But their journey was ended by Chile who hammered them 4-0 in the quarter-finals.
Venezuela 1-0 Nigeria (2009 – Group Stage)
Following his exploits at the 2005 edition, Samson Siasia returned as Flying Eagles coach for the 2009 tournament in Egypt.
But the team began the competition on a losing note, going down to Venezuela 1-0 with midfielder Haruna Lukman sent off.
The second match against Spain ended 2-0 but a 5-0 win against Tahiti helped the Flying Eagles reach the round of 16 as one of the best third placed teams.
But the Flying Eagles were eliminated by Germany 3-2, who triumphed despite playing with 10 men.
Uruguay 2-1 Nigeria (2013 – Round of 16)
The Flying Eagles recovered from their 3-2 defeat to Portugal in their first game of the 2013 U-20 World Cup by beating Cuba (3-0) and South Korea (1-0) and qualify for the knockout round.
Unfortunately for them, their journey came to an end after losing 2-1 to Uruguay in the round of 16.
Brazil 4-2 Nigeria (2015 – Group Stage)
The 2015 U-20 World Cup saw the Flying Eagles crossed parts with a South American side again, this time regular opponent Brazil.
At some point in the game it looked like the Flying Eagles will secure their first win against South American opponents, after coming from 1-0 down to lead 2-1, but Brazil rallied back to triumph 4-2.
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The Flying Eagles still progressed to the round of 16 before losing 1-0 to Germany.
Brazil 2-0 Nigeria (2023 – Group Stage)
The Flying Eagles had the best of starts in their opening two fixtures at the 2023 edition of the U-20 World Cup, beating Dominican Republic 2-1 and Italy 2-0.
They faced Brazil in their final group match and just like in previous meetings, the Fly Eagles were on the losing side no thanks to a 2-0 defeat.
However, the Flying Eagles had done enough to qualify for the knockout stage.
Nigeria 2-0 Argentina (2023 – Round of 16)
For the first time ever the Flying Eagles recorded a win against South American side at the U-20 World Cup, when they overcame hosts of the 2023 edition Argentina in the round of 16.
While the Flying Eagles got to the knockout round as one of the third best placed teams, Argentina won all their group matches.
But to everyone’s shock, the Flying Eagles won 2-0, bagging the two goals in the second half.
Nigeria 1-1 Colombia (2025 – Group Stage)
At the ongoing tournament in Chile, the Flying Eagles were drawn with a South American team, Colombia.
After losing 1-0 to Norway in their first group match, the Flying Eagles beat Saudi Arabia 3-2 and needed to win or draw against Colombia to stand a chance of making it to the round of 16.
Trailing in the contest after conceding in the second half, captain Daniel Bamayi netted from the penalty spot on 85 minutes to force a 1-1 draw.
