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Nigeria’s Future Eagles were eliminated from Level C competition at the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival after a shock 6-3 loss to Benin Republic on Wednesday in Baku, Azerbaijan.
After thrashing New Caledonia 7-0 in the round of 32 this morning, Nigeria went into the round of 16 full of confidence, but were impressed by the U15 Guepards.
Captain Timothy Ijach led the charge with a brace (taking him to 11 goals in the tournament) and *Wisdom Boniface* also scored, but Benin were ruthless.
Benin responded with six goals of their own to secure a 6-3 victory and book a place in the Level C quarter-finals.
The result is a hard blow. The Future Eagles had been the best team throughout the tournament: they finished Group AD with 7 points (1 win, 4 draws), 11 goals for and 10 against, before that emphatic 7-0 victory over New Caledonia, in which Ijach scored a hat-trick, Muhammad scored twice and Oche and Salu also scored.
But the defensive weaknesses that had caused them to concede goals in every game in the group stage finally cost them the score. They finish the tournament with 21 goals scored in 7 games.
Benin will advance to face the winner of the Level C quarter-finals on Thursday, while Nigeria will now play qualifying matches to determine the final seeding before the tournament closes on Friday, October 30.
The Future Eagles will return to action in the 73rd-80th place play-offs against Rwanda on Thursday and a win will send Nigeria to the 73rd-76th place semi-finals.
The Festival uses an 8-player format with two 20-minute halves, with teams divided into six tiers based on group performance.
