Nigeria vs Dominican Republic Preview: Flying Eagles eye fine start in U20 World Cup

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Nigeria will on Sunday kick off its campaign at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup against the Dominican Republic.

It will be the first time both sides will be meeting at this stage, with the Nigerians the bookmakers’ favourites.

The Flying Eagles made it to the final of the tournament twice, losing on both occasions to Portugal in 1989 and Argentina in 2005.

They will be making their 13th appearance at the FIFA U20 World Cup finals, open their World Cup campaign in Group D against Dominican Republic on 21 May, and will also play Italy and Brazil in that order in the group phase.

Ladan Bosso’s side will hope to go a step ahead with the title this time around but will have to tackle Dominican Republic, Italy, and Brazil in the group stage first for a chance to make it to the Round of 16.

The West African side qualified for the tournament after its third-place finish at the 2023 U-20 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) as the top four teams from the continent automatically qualified for the tournament with Nigeria qualifying alongside African Champions, Senegal, The Gambia, and Tunisia.

The two-time finalist has suffered a Round of 16 ousters in recent tournaments, a feat Bosso will try to surpass at this tournament.

It has prepared well enough for this tournament with a training camp in Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina, where the team defeated an Argentine second-division team, Almirante, and battled out a 3-3 draw with fellow World Cup finalists Colombia in friendlies.

Dominican Republic is making its debut appearance at the FIFA U-20 World Cup this time around.

Walter Rosales’s men had a fairy tale run at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, reaching the final where it lost 6-0 to the United States of America (USA).

Like in Africa, the top four teams from the CONCACAF region also qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup sealing a place for Dominican Republic, with thee team having a bad patch of form since that 6-0 loss to the USA.

They lost all previous six friendly games ahead of Sunday’s encounter to Colombia (4-0), Brazil (1-0), Iraq (3-2), Uzbekistan (3-0), Argentina (4-0), and Ecuador (3-0).

The Nigerian side should be able to get a win over the CONCACAF Vice Champions.

Sunday’s clash will take place at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza, by 19:00 (7:00 pm Nigerian time).