Nigeria’s youth teams won the inaugural FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1985, as well as in 1993, 2007, 2013, 2015. The under-17 team is known as the Golden Eaglets and Under-20 team is known as the “Flying Eagles”.
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles qualified for the first time to represent Africa in the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship in Mexico. Although Nigeria did not go beyond the first round, they beat the highly-rated USSR 1-0 and held the Netherlands to a goalless draw.
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In 1985, the under-17 football team went to China and conquered the world in the first-ever FIFA U-17 World Championship. The victory took Nigerian youth football to a high pedestal, setting the stage for the respect of Nigeria in international competitions. The under-20 team went to Saudi Arabia for the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship and lost narrowly in the final to Portugal.
The team pulled off the now-legendary “Miracle of Damman”, erasing a 4–0 deficit to the Soviet Union to tie and then win the match by penalties. In 2007, the under-17 squad were crowned world champions in South Korea for the 3rd time. Nigeria hosted the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship and the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
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