Nigeria’s Ijachi inspires first Fifa U15 World Cup win after three draws

Nigeria’s Future Eagles secured their first victory at the Fifa U15 Youth World Cup & Festival 2026 as Timothy Ijachi continued his excellent scoring form in a 2-1 comeback win over Cyprus on Monday morning.

The Mavlon FC forward completed Nigeria’s turnaround with the winning goal in the 26th minute, adding to his growing influence in the tournament.

Cyprus took the lead in the 13th minute through Georgios Christodoulou, but Nigeria responded quickly. Wisdom Oche levelled the match four minutes later before Ijachi struck to put the Future Eagles ahead.

The result ended a run of three successive draws for Nigeria, who had previously shared the points with South Sudan, Jordan and Gambia.

Nigeria opened their campaign with a 3-3 draw against South Sudan in an entertaining match. They followed that with a 2-2 draw against Jordan before producing another six-goal contest against Gambia.

Abdulrazak Mufutau and Ijachi scored early in the match against Gambia, but Nigeria’s opponents turned the game around and moved into the lead. Ijachi equalised for the second time in the match in the 40th minute to earn Nigeria a 3-3 draw.

The 15-year-old now has five goals in Nigeria’s first four matches and is emerging as one of the leading young players at the tournament.

Ijachi scored in the matches against South Sudan, Jordan and Cyprus, while his two goals against Gambia made him Nigeria’s key attacking threat during their unbeaten start.

His latest strike proved decisive as the Future Eagles held on for their first win after beginning the competition with three draws.