Nigeria’s Flying Eagles have booked their place in the Round of 16 at the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile after a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Colombia in the early hours of Monday.
The match, played at the Estadio Fiscal de Talca, saw Nigeria put up a spirited display. Goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt made key saves in the 23rd and 26th minutes to deny Colombia early goals during a tense first half.
Although the South Americans started strong, Nigeria created more chances through Tahir Maigana, Kparobo Arierhi, and Suleman Sani, who all came close to scoring but were unlucky to hit the woodwork.
Colombia took the lead in the 51st minute when Kener Gonzalez finished off a neat pass from Neyser Villareal.
The Flying Eagles kept pushing and almost leveled through Odinaka Okoro’s header in the 76th minute. Their persistence finally paid off in the 86th minute when captain Daniel Bameyi scored from the penalty spot after a Colombian defender handled the ball in the box.
Nigeria nearly grabbed a late winner, but Arierhi’s close-range effort in the 89th minute was blocked by the Colombian defence.
With the draw, Nigeria advanced to the knockout stage and will face Argentina at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos in Santiago on Wednesday — a rematch of their quarter-final meeting at the last U-20 World Cup, which Nigeria won 2–0.
In other fixtures, Colombia will play South Africa, while Norway faces Paraguay in the Round of 16.
