Flying Eagles Begin Training In Chile Ahead of FIFA U20 World Cup Opener

Flying Eagles Begin Training In Chile Ahead of FIFA U20 World Cup Opener 

By Niyi Busari 

The Flying Eagles are set to begin their first training session on Wednesday morning, following their arrival in Chile on Tuesday for the 2025 FIFA U20 World Cup, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

The seven-time African champions touched down after a long-haul flight from Nigeria, having departed on Sunday night. After using Tuesday to recover from travel fatigue and jet lag, the team will commence double training sessions at 7:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (local time) on Wednesday.

Led by head coach Aliyu Zubairu, the team is preparing for a challenging Group F campaign, where they will face Norway, Saudi Arabia, and Colombia. Nigeria will open their tournament campaign against Norway on Monday, 29th September at 9:00 p.m. local time, followed by matches against Saudi Arabia on 3rd October and Colombia on 6th October.

Zubairu, who led Nigeria to a third-place finish at the 2025 CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, is aiming to guide the team beyond its previous best performance at the FIFA U20 World Cup with runners-up finishes in 1989 and 2005.

As part of their final preparations, the Nigeria Football Federation has scheduled two international friendly matches against host nation Chile and Australia to help fine-tune the squad before their opening match.