Nigeria national under-17 football team

The team won the maiden edition of FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1985 at China, the 1985 Edition tournament was sponsored by Kodak (when it was known as the U-16 tournament), 1993, 2007, 2013, and 2015 (Becoming only the second team since Brazil to win it back to back); making them the first team ever to win the junior world cup five times.[4] They also won the African Under-17 Championship in 2001 and 2007, and were runners-up in 1995.

After the 2007 victory there was some discussion as to whether the success should be rewarded in the form of cash, or if longer-term investments were more suitable for teenage players. It was pointed out that some previous players had found themselves reduced to poverty due to injury or mismanagement of their funds.[4]

Heading into the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, head coach Henry Nwosu was replaced by John Obuh, coach of Kwara United.[5]

Although Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, they participated again in the 2013 edition of the tournament. Planning was thrown into disarray however in August when key members of the team was determined by MRI scanning to be overage and excluded from the team.[6] In their first match, the team defeated the defending champions Mexico with a 6-1 score. They only failed to defeat Sweden in the group stage, but they did so in the semi-finals. In the final match they faced and defeated Mexico for a second time, obtaining their fourth U-17 World Cup and becoming the national team to win the most U-17 tournaments so far.

The team were again the subject of age cheating accusations when, a total of 26 players from the 60-strong squad were sent home from their training camp in 2016 after failing compulsory MRI scans used to test age ahead of an African Cup of Nations qualifier.[7] It is important to note that amidst all the age cheating accusations, the team has never been found guilty of fielding overage players in any competition. All the players accused of being overage were all caught at the Abuja training camp and sent home before they played any game for the team.[8][9]

FIFA U-17 World Cup record FIFA U-17 World Cup record Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA 1985 Champions 1st 6 5 1 0 10 2 1987 Runners-up 2nd 6 3 2 1 7 5 1989 Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 2 0 7 0 1991 Did not qualify 1993 Champions 1st 6 6 0 0 20 3 1995 Quarter-finals 7th 4 2 1 1 6 4 1997 Did not qualify 1999 2001 Runners-up 2nd 6 5 0 1 14 5 2003 Group stage 11th 3 1 1 1 3 3 2005 Did not qualify 2007 Champions 1st 7 6 1 0 16 4 2009 Runners-up 2nd 7 5 1 1 17 7 2011 Did not qualify 2013 Champions 1st 7 6 1 0 26 5 2015 Champions 1st 7 6 0 1 23 5 2017 Did not qualify 2019 Round of 16 15th 4 2 0 2 10 9 2023 To be determined Total 12/19 5 Titles 63 47 10 6 149 43

Africa U-17 Cup of Nations record Africa U-17 Cup of Nations Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA 1995 Runners-up 2nd 5 4 0 1 13 5 1997 Did not qualify 1999 Group stage 6th 3 1 1 1 5 5 2001 Champions 1st 5 3 2 0 13 4 2003 Third place 3rd 5 4 0 1 9 2 2005 Group stage 6th 3 1 1 1 8 6 2007 Champions 1st 5 5 0 0 15 1 2009 Did not qualify 2011 2013 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 1 1 18 5 2015 Fourth place 4th 5 2 1 2 7 6 2017 Did not qualify 2019 Fourth place 4th 2 2 1 2 5 9 Total 9/13 2 titles 41 25 7 9 93 53

A gold background colour indicates that Nigeria won the tournament.

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Intercontinental

• FIFA U-17 World Cup
  • Winners: 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013, 2015
  • Runners-up: 1987, 2001, 2009

Continental

• Africa U-17 Cup of Nations
  • Winners: 2001, 2007
  • Runners-up: 1995, 2013
  • Third-place: 2003

Others

• UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup
  • Winners: 1997

Nigeria announced a squad of 21 players on 16 October 2019 for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup [10][11]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1	1GK	Sunday Stephen	(2002-09-20)20 September 2002 (aged 17)	Abuja Football College
2	4FW	Adeniyi Oluwatimilehin	(2003-05-12)12 May 2003 (aged 16)	Sporting Dreams FC
3	2DF	Charles Etim	(2003-10-10)10 October 2003 (aged 16)	Blessed Stars Football Academy
4	3MF	Jordan Morakinyo	(2002-05-17)17 May 2002 (aged 17)	Collings Edwin FC
5	2DF	Clement Ikenna	(2003-03-16)16 March 2003 (aged 16)	A&B Academy
6	2DF	Usman Ibrahim	(2003-03-02)2 March 2003 (aged 16)	Giant Brilliants FC
7	4FW	Olakunnle Olusegun	(2002-04-23)23 April 2002 (aged 17)	ABS
8	3MF	Hamzat Ojediran	(2003-11-14)14 November 2003 (aged 15)	Jossy United FC
9	4FW	Wisdom Ubani	(2003-05-16)16 May 2003 (aged 16)	Giant Brilliants FC
10	3MF	Peter Agba	(2002-12-20)20 December 2002 (aged 16)	Falala Academy
11	2DF	Quadri Edun	(2003-04-27)27 April 2003 (aged 16)	G12 FC
12	4FW	Peter Olawale	(2002-07-26)26 July 2002 (aged 17)	Tripple 44 FC
13	4FW	Akinkunmi Amoo	(2002-06-07)7 June 2002 (aged 17)	Sidos FC
14	3MF	Daniel Francis	(2003-09-27)27 September 2003 (aged 16)	FC Hearts
15	3MF	Monsuru Opeyemi	(2003-08-11)11 August 2003 (aged 16)	B. Angel FC
16	1GK	Daniel Jinadu	(2002-06-21)21 June 2002 (aged 17)	West Ham United
17	4FW	Divine Nwachukwu	(2003-05-25)25 May 2003 (aged 16)	Riverline FC
18	4FW	Ibraheem Jabaar	(2002-10-24)24 October 2002 (aged 17)	Ijebu FC
19	4FW	Abba Bichi	(2003-12-27)27 December 2003 (aged 15)	Talentbase Sport FC
20	3MF	Ibrahim Said	(2003-06-15)15 June 2003 (aged 16)	Dabo Babes Academy
21	1GK	Joseph Oluwabusola	(2003-01-01)1 January 2003 (aged 16)	AFC Bournemouth

• Super Eagles (Nigeria national football team)
• Flying Eagles (Nigeria national under-20 football team)
• African U-17 Championship

• Official website of the Nigerian Football Federation