Nigeria Men’s U-20 team, the Flying Eagles beat Hungary on Sunday morning to qualify for the quarter finals of the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.
Both teams started the day on three points; however Hungary had a better goal difference and needed only a draw to progress to the knockout stages of the competition.
A convincing display from the Nigerian team ensured a comfortable 2-0 win for the Flying Eagles.
Taiwo Awoniyi, who shone at the African Youth Championship, was the hero for the African champions with two well taken goals in both halves to seal their passage to the next round where they will face free scoring German team.
Despite the result, Hungary still qualified alongside Group winners, Brazil and Nigeria as one of the best third-placed teams after the Group stage.
This means Africa will have all four representatives – Nigeria, Mali, Senegal and Ghana – in the knockout stage of the competition for the second time in the history of the tournament.
The only other time was in 2007 when Nigeria, Zambia, Congo and Gambia reached the round of 16, with Nigeria eliminating Zambia at that stage.
The Nigerian team is looking to become the second team from the African continent to win the Under-20 World Cup.
Round of 16 fixtures:
Brazil vs Uruguay
Portugal vs New Zealand
Austria vs Uzbekistan
Ukraine vs Senegal
United States of America vs Colombia
Serbia vs Hungary
Ghana vs Mali
Germany vs Nigeria
The final is set for 20 June in Auckland.
