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Nigeria’s new under-17 national team, the Golden Eaglets’ flight to China on Thursday night, is sure to revive memories of how the country’s pioneering youth team won the first-ever Cadet World Cup in the same country.
READ ALSO: Golden Eaglets scheduled for extensive training camp in China, ahead of WAFU-B U17 championship
Sports247 reports that the current Eaglets team will participate in an invitational competition in China almost 41 years after the first team captained by Nduka Ugbade won the then FIFA U-16 World Cup in August 1985.
A press release from the communications department of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) revealed that the Eaglets are scheduled to participate in a four-nation competition as part of their preparation for the imminent West African Football Union (WAFU)-B Under-17 Championship.
The upcoming sub-regional competition will serve as qualification for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations and ultimately the next Cadet World Cup, which Nigeria won in 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013 and 2015.
However, Nigeria failed to qualify for the last two editions of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, despite being the overall record holder with five conquests of the global youth football festival, starting with the U-16 version in China ’85.
NFF officials will now look to benefit from the team’s symbolic return to China 41 years later as a source of motivation and inspiration for the new group of players, who will be galvanized with stories about the heroics of Ugbade and his teammates in China ’85.
The NFF press release added: “The five-time world champions, the Nigerian Golden Eaglets, will depart the country’s shores on Thursday evening for China, to take part in the China Four-Nation International Youth Football Tournament to be held in Yinchuan, July 5-11, 2026.
“Although the Chinese Football Association, the Sports Administration of Ningxia Hul Autonomous Region and the Yinchuan Municipal People’s Government are the hosts, the competition is organized by the Ningxia Football Association in conjunction with the Yinchuan Sports Bureau and promoted by the China Football Industry Development Corporation.
“The 20-player team is led by coach Uwejamomere Eboboritse, along with his assistants Kalli Mohammed Kachalla and Abdullahi Isa. Hosts China, Australia and Tanzania are the other participating teams, with matches scheduled at the Yinchaun Sports Center’s Helanshan Stadium.”
