Nigeria National Under-20 Football Team
The Nigerian men's national under-20 football team represents Nigeria in men's international football also known as the Nigeria Under-20s or nicknamed the Flying Eagles.
It plays a large role in the development of Nigerian football, and it’s considered to be the feeder team for the senior team. It is controlled by the Nigerian Football Federation. The team has won a record of seven African U-20 Cup of Nations titles and are also two-times runners-up of the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
| Nickname(s) | Flying Eagles | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Nigeria Football Association | ||
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||
| Sub-confederation | WAFU (West Africa) | ||
| Head coach | Mitchell Adebanjo | ||
| Home stadium | Agege Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | NGA | ||
| |||
| FIFA U-20 World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 12 (first in 1981) | ||
| Best result | Runners-up (1989, 2005) | ||
| Africa U-20 Cup of Nations | |||
| Appearances | 18 (first in 1978–79) | ||
| Best result | Champions (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2005, 2011, 2015) | ||
| WAFU Zone B U-20 Tournament | |||
| Appearances | 3 (first in 2018) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2022) | ||
Competitive record
FIFA U-20 World Cup record
Africa U-20 Cup of Nations record
| Africa U-20 Cup of Nations | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
| 1977 | Did not enter | |||||||
| 1979 | Semi-finalists | 3rd | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 1981 | Semi-finalists | 3rd | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 |
| 1983 | Champions | 1st | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 |
| 1985 | Champions | 1st | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 8 |
| 1987 | Champions | 1st | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 9 |
| 1989 | Champions | 1st | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 6 |
 1991 | Did not enter | |||||||
 1993 | Group stage | 5th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
 1995 | Third place | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 |
 1997 | Did not qualify | |||||||
 1999 | Second place | 2nd | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 |
 2001 | Group stage | 8th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 2003 | Did not qualify | |||||||
 2005 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
 2007 | Second place | 2nd | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
 2009 | Third place | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5 |
 2011 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 |
 2013 | Third place | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 |
 2015 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 |
 2017 | Did not qualify | |||||||
 2019 | Fourth place | 4th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
 2021 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| 2023 | Third place | 3rd | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| Total | 18/23 | 7 titles | 97 | 56 | 14 | 27 | 151 | 90 |
A gold background colour indicates that Nigeria won the tournament.
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
*There was no third place match from 1979-1989.
Team honours and achievements
Intercontinental
Continental
- Africa U-20 Cup of Nations
- Football at the African Games
- Silver medal: 2019
Sub-Continental
Staff
- Head Coach: Mitchell Adebanjo
- First Assistant Coach: Usman Garba Suleiman
- Second Assistant Coach: Emeka Uzoma
- Scout: Hubert Okeke
- Goalkeepers' Trainer: Babajide Adegoke
Current squad
The following players were named in the squad for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, to be played in May-June 2023.
Caps and goals correct as of 10 March 2023, after the match against Tunisia.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Chijioke Aniagboso | 15 April 2004 | 5 | 0 |  Polissya Zhytomyr | |
| GK | Nathaniel Nwosu | 10 January 2006 | 1 | 0 | Water | |
| GK | John Utoblo | 5 July 2003 | 0 | 0 | Mavlon | |
| DF | Solomon Agbalaka | 9 November 2003 | 6 | 1 | MFM | |
| DF | Benjamin Fredrick | 28 May 2005 | 6 | 0 |  Brentford B | |
| DF | Daniel Bameyi | 4 January 2006 | 5 | 0 | Yumyum | |
| DF | Abel Ogwuche | 6 July 2003 | 5 | 0 |  Trelleborgs FF | |
| DF | Chimezie Njoku | 2 August 2004 | 4 | 0 | Abia Warriors | |
| DF | Israel Domingo | 9 February 2004 | 0 | 0 | FC Sports | |
| DF | Salim Figo Lawal | 15 January 2003 | 0 | 0 | Mavlon | |
| MF | Samson Lawal | 25 April 2004 | 6 | 1 |  Livingston | |
| MF | Daniel Daga | 10 January 2007 | 1 | 0 | Dakkada | |
| MF | Ibrahim Abdullahi | 17 October 2005 | 0 | 0 | Samba | |
| MF | Victor Eletu | 1 April 2005 | 0 | 0 |  Milan | |
| MF | Joshua John | 18 January 2004 | 0 | 0 | Nasarawa United | |
| MF | Tochukwu Nadi | 30 June 2003 | 0 | 0 |  Botev Plovdiv | |
| FW | Jude Sunday | 4 October 2004 | 6 | 2 | Real Sapphire | |
| FW | Ibrahim Beji Muhammad | 3 February 2004 | 6 | 2 | Giants | |
| FW | Rilwanu Sarki | 2 February 2004 | 6 | 0 | Mahanaim | |
| FW | Umeh Emmanuel | 31 August 2004 | 0 | 0 | Botev Plovdiv | |
| FW | Kehinde Ibrahim | 15 January 2006 | 0 | 0 | 36 Lion | |
Former coaches
- Christopher Udemezue (July 1, 1982 – June 30, 1987/1988)
- Paul Hamilton (July 1, 1985 – June 30, 1986)
- Olatunde Nurudeen Disu (1987–1997)
- Thijs Libregts (July 1, 1998 – June 30, 1999)
- Samson Siasia (January 1, 2005 – March 26, 2007; June 30, 2009)
- Ladan Basso (2007–2009)
- John Obuh (July 1, 2010 – February 1, 2013)
- Emmanuel Amunike (July 1, 2014 – November 1, 2017)
- Paul Aigbogun (January 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020)
References
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