Nigeria’s Flying Eagles fought hard to secure a 2-2 draw against Kenya on Wednesday and advanced to the quarterfinals of the ongoing Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, Afrosport reports.
The Flying Eagles, who entered Wednesday’s game at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo unbeaten, needed to avoid defeat against the Kenyans in their final Group B game.
The seven-time African champions, however, showed immense resilience as they had to fight back from a goal deficit twice against the Kenyans, who were already eliminated from the tournament, having lost their opening two games.
Flying Eagles through to the Quarterfinals pic.twitter.com/QC4cvGagvR
— The NFF
(@thenff) May 7, 2025
Kenya took the lead early on through a sixth-minute penalty from Kevin Wangaya Injehu, but Nigeria responded with an equaliser by Kparobo Arierhi in the 29th minute.
The Kenyans restored their lead in the 68th minute through William Gitamu, but a penalty from captain Daniel Bameyi restored parity once again for Nigeria.
Aliyu Zubairu’s men pushed forward for a winner but were unable to find one, with the draw enough to send them through to the next round following Morocco’s 3-1 win over Tunisia in the other group game.
Nigeria, meanwhile, finished second in Group B with five points, two behind leaders Morocco, while Tunisia are third with three points and Kenya have one.
The Flying Eagles will play the runners-up in Group C in the quarterfinals on 12 May as they hope to clinch a record-extending eighth title as well as a spot at this year’s U20 FIFA World Cup in Chile.
