Nigeria’s Future Eagles draw with Pakistan to complete unbeaten FIFA U-15 group stage

Nigeria’s Future Eagles finished the group stage of the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival with a 1-1 draw against Pakistan in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday afternoon.

The result leaves Nigeria unbeaten in Group AD, with seven points from five matches. Their campaign included one win and four draws.

Pakistan moved ahead in the 21st minute when forward Kaleemullah Ullah converted from close to the penalty spot. The chance was created when he was played in beside the spot, and he finished clinically to score his second goal of the day, having also found the net against Jordan earlier in the competition.

Nigeria responded four minutes later. Timothy Ijach reacted first to a loose ball inside the penalty area and poked it home in the 25th minute to restore parity.

The Future Eagles scored 11 goals and conceded 10 during the group stage, underlining both their attacking potential and defensive vulnerability in the tournament’s eight-a-side format.

Matches in the competition are played over two 20-minute halves, making the event a different test for the under-15 players compared with the traditional 11-a-side game.

Nigeria will now wait for the second phase, which is scheduled to take place on 28 and 29 October. Their performances in the group stage will determine which of six performance-based tiers they enter.

The tier finals will follow on 30 October.

The FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival is the largest youth event ever staged by FIFA, featuring 189 member associations.