Nigeria’s Future Eagles trounced New Caledonia 7-0 on Wednesday to cruise to the Tier C Round of 16 at the maiden edition of the FIFA Under-15 World Cup and Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The result was Nigeria’s first clean sheet of the tournament.
Nigeria secured the commanding victory with goals from Wisdom Oche and Mayowa Salu in the first and 40th minutes, Abdulsalam Muhammad in the 21st and 39th minutes, and a hat-trick from captain Timothy Ijachi in the 12th, 16th and 35th minutes.
Nigeria will on Thursday face the winner between Benin Republic and Cuba. A victory for the Future Eagles will extend their unbeaten streak at the competition to seven games.
The team, coached by Patrick Bassey, advanced from the qualification stage in Group AD, where they finished third with seven points from five matches, recording one win and four draws, scoring 11 goals and conceding 10.
Nigeria kicked off their campaign with a 3-3 draw against South Sudan, drew 2-2 with Jordan, and 3-3 with The Gambia. Nigeria secured their first victory of the competition by beating Cyprus 2-1, then drew 1-1 with Pakistan.
