Football in Nigeria

Football is the most popular sport in Nigeria. The Nigeria national football team competes regularly for international titles and many Nigerian footballers compete in Europe, particularly in England.Nigeria has one of the finest national teams in Africa and has produced many notable footballers.

The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Association. According to the FIFA World Rankings, Nigeria, at 39th, are currently the 5th best team in the Confederation of African Football.

The Nigeria national football team played their first international match against Sierra Leone in Freetown on 8 October 1949. Nigeria won 2-0. Their biggest win recorded was 16-1 against Benin.

Nigeria's youth teams won the inaugural FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1985 as well as in 1993 and in 2007. The under-17 team is known as the Golden Eaglets and Under-20 team is known as the "Flying Eagles".

Nigeria's Flying Eagles qualified for the first time to represent Africa in the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship in Mexico. Although Nigeria did not go beyond the first round, they beat the highly rated USSR 1-0 and held the Netherlands to a goalless draw.