Nigeria’s under-20s will meet Argentina in the Round of 16 on Wednesday after qualifying as one of the best third-placed teams of the group stage of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
The Flying Eagles finished their group with a 0–1 loss to Norway, a 3–2 win over Saudi Arabia, and a 1–1 draw with Colombia — enough to squeeze through and set up another chapter in a rivalry that seems to find both nations at every level of world football.
The fixture has a deep backstory. At the senior level, the World Cup first pitted them together in 1994 (Argentina won 2–1), then again in 2002 (1–0 Argentina), 2010 (1–0 Argentina), and 2014 (3–2 Argentina, with Lionel Messi scoring twice).
In between came a 0–0 draw at the 1995 Confederations Cup.
Nigeria’s most famous rebuttal arrived at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when the Dream Team rallied to win the gold-medal match 3–2.
At the youth level, Argentina edged the 2005 U-20 World Cup final 2–1 thanks to two Lionel Messi penalties, but Nigeria claimed the 2007 U-17 quarter-final 2–0, and, most recently, stunned hosts Argentina 2–0 in San Juan at the 2023 U-20 Round of 16.
Tally it up across those tournament meetings and Nigeria has three wins, one draw, and five defeats.
The margins have usually been razor-thin: six of the eight decisive games were settled by a single goal, suggesting another tight contest rather than a shoot-out.
Recent form gives both sides talking points — Argentina carries the historical edge at senior World Cups, but Nigeria won the last U-20 meeting in 2023 and has made a habit of upsetting the bracket, so the numbers and the narrative both point to a close one-goal game.
