FIFA U-20 World Cup: Nigeria to know group opponents on March 31

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

After its qualification for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia, Nigeria will know its group stage opponents on March 31.

The FIFA confirmed the draw date as Nigeria, Senegal, the Gambia, and Tunisia qualified as African representatives after reaching the semi-final qualification at the ongoing U-20 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt.

The FIFA draw to determine which teams play who in the group stage of the U-20 World Cup will take place on

31 March 2023, following the conclusion of the remaining qualifying tournaments.

The 24 teams will be split into six groups of four, with the top two teams from each group progressing, while the four best third-placed teams will also advance to the Round of 16 knockout phase.

Fixtures for the competition will be confirmed following the conclusion of the group stage draw on 31 March.

Hosts Indonesia are joined by Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, England, Fiji, France, Gambia, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Nigeria, Senegal, Slovakia, Tunisia, Uruguay, and USA as the confirmed qualifiers so far.

The remaining four spots will be decided via the Asia Football Confederation (AFC) Under-20 Asian Cup in March.

Nigeria is yet to lift the FIFA U-20 World title but has reached the final twice, losing on both occasions to Portugal and Argentina. The West African giants will hope to surpass its previous best record and replicate Africa’s sole winner of the tournament, Ghana in Indonesia.