Chile 2025: Flying Eagles to face Colombia, Saudi, and Norway

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Nigeria’s U-20 national team has been drawn in Group F ahead of the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile after the conduct of draws for the tournament on Thursday.

The two-time beaten finalists are amongst the 24 teams that qualified for the competition taking place in Chile from 27 September to 19 October .

They will face the South American side, Colombia, Saudi Arabia from Asia, and the European opponent, Norway, in the group stage.

Reigning champions, Uruguay, could not defend their title as they finished fifth in the South American U-20 Championship. In doing so, they became the eighth consecutive title holders to fail to qualify for the subsequent tournament.

The 24th edition of the event in Chile will be the Flying Eagles’ 14th appearance at the competition since their debut in 1983. Their current streak is three straight qualifications.

Their best performance was reaching the grand finale twice in 1989 and 2005, which ended in defeats against Portugal and Argentina, respectively.

Aliyu Zubairu’s side will also go into another draw with West Africa Zone A & B U-20 Boys Cup lot set to take place in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on Friday.

2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup Draw

Group A: Chile, New Zealand, Japan, Egypt

Group B: South Korea, Ukraine, Paraguay, Panama

Group C: Brazil, Mexico, Morocco, Spain

Group D: Italy, Australia, Cuba, Argentina

Group E: United States of America, New Caledonia, France, South Africa

Group F: Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Nigeria