The Nigeria U-20 national team’s journey at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup came to an end after their 1-0 extra-time loss to South Korea in the quarter-finals on Sunday.
The Flying Eagles recorded one of the biggest results of the tournament when they knocked out hosts Argentina in the round of 16 in a very brilliant display. The Koreans meanwhile defeated Ecuador 3-2.
Ladan Bosso’s men came into Sunday’s game at the Estadio Santiago del Estero as slight favourites and were the better team for much of the game, having more possession (60%), total shots (22) and shots on target (3).
The West African giants were however let down by South Korea’s only shot on target which came in the 95th minute of extra time when Seok-Hyun Choi sent in a powerful header from Lee Seung-Won’s corner kick.
Nigeria tries hard to salvage something in extra time, substitute Emmanuel Umeh going close in added time of the second 15 minutes but his effort went wide off the right side of the goal post.
FT
????????South Korea 1-0 ????????Nigeria
Not the result we wanted.
Our journey at the #U20WC comes to an end.#SoarFlyingEagles #FIFAU20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Zpk8uPrYIc
— The NFF ???????? (@thenff) June 4, 2023
The Koreans held firm and will now face Italy, whom Nigeria defeated 2-0 in the group stage, in the semi-finals.
The other semi-final will see Uruguay take on debutants Israel, the latter defeating five-time U-20 World Cup champions Brazil 3-2 in extra-time in their quarter-final clash in San Juan.
