Nigeria to meet Iran on Tuesday

The Golden Eaglets will face Iran in the round of 16 of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in the UAE on Tuesday after topping Group F with seven points ahead of Mexico who had six points.

Nigeria rounded off their Group F campaign with a 5-0 hammering of Iraq at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai.

Four goals in the first half set the tempo for the contest which was never really going to end well for the Iraqis, who now head for home after three straight defeats.

Mexico and Sweden also made it to the knock-out stage as second and third-place finishers respectively.

Nigeria took the lead when Musa Yahaya was fouled in the area and Musa Muhammed converted form the spot in the fourth minute.

A minute later, Chidiebere Nwakali got an assist from Muhammed to make it 2-0. They went up with another goal five minutes later when Yahaya latched on a loose ball from Kelechi Iheanacho.

Yahaya struck again when he took advantage of a rather grand error by the goalkeeper Hayder Mohammed, and poked home with ease from six yards out just before the half.

The second half was not as fiery as the first but the Eaglets were not going to finish the game without adding more goals. On the stroke of full-time, they scored a fifth when substitute Chigozie Obasi hit home from 20 yards to take the his side’s goals-for tally in the group stages to 14, just one less than Brazil.