TheCable

Nigeria and Mali, two teams from the same confederation will slug it out in the final of the FIFA U-17 World Cup at the Estadio Sausalito in Vina Del on Sunday.

This all-African final is taking place for the first time in 22 years and ten editions of the tournament after CAF sides Ghana and Nigeria met in the final back in 1993.

The Golden Eaglets secured the second of their four World Cup crowns with a 2-1 victory that day.

This is the first time any Malian team has reached the final of any FIFA tournament.

After the country’s third-place finish at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand a few months ago, coach Baye Ba’s squad have gone one step further in Chile.

While Nigeria hold a clear lead in the head-to-head record between the two nations’ senior sides with four wins, three draws and just one defeat to their name, Mali have the edge when it comes to youth football.

When hosting the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 1999, the Flying Eagles lost 3-1 to Mali in the quarter-finals.

Here’s how the two countries got to this stage of the tournament.

NIGERIA

GROUP A

Oct 17

Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos

Santiago De Chile

Nigeria 2-0 USA

Oct 20

Estadio Sausalito

Vina Del Mar

Chile 1-5 Nigeria

Oct 23

Estadio Francisco Sanchez Rumoroso

Coquimbo

Croatia 2-1 Nigeria

ROUND OF 16

Oct 28

Estadio Sausalito

Vina Del Mar

Nigeria 6-0 Australia

QUARTER-FINALS

Nov 1

Estadio Sausalito

Vina Del Mar

Brazil 0-3 Nigeria

SEMI-FINALS

Nov 5

Estadio Municipal Ester Roa

Concepcion

Mexico 2-4 Nigeria

MALI

GROUP D

Oct 18

Estadio Fiscal

Talca

Belgium 0-0 Mali

Oct 21

Estadio Fiscal

Talca

Ecuador 1-2 Mali

Oct 24

Estadio Nelson Oyarzún Arenas

Chillan

Mali 3-0 Honduras

ROUND OF 16

Oct 29

Estadio Fiscal

Talca

Mali 3-0 Korea DPR

QUARTER-FINALS

Nov 1

Estadio Nelson Oyarzún Arenas

Chillan

Croatia 0-1 Mali

SEMI-FINALS

Nov 5

Estadio La Portada

La Serena

Mali 3-1 Belgium

What they are saying

“We respect Mali because they are the African champions, but we are not afraid of them. It is going to be a memorable final and we are going to do our best against Mali on Sunday. We are the defending champions of the World Cup and that means we need to be respected too; we know that playing against Mali would not be an easy match, but we are confident about our chances. The coach (Emmanuel Amuneke) is the one that knows the secret of our success; our job is to go out and play based on his instruction.” Kelechi Nwakali

“I have to thank the coach for bringing me to this tournament because it has been a life-changing experience for me personally. I have been lucky to have scored those goals with the help of my teammates and together, we are going to play the final against Mali as the game of our lives. We have seen the Malians and we have to follow the instruction of the coach in order to stop them from playing their style if we are going to beat them.” Victor Osimhen

The match will be handled by English referee, Michael Oliver and his compatriot assistant referees Stuart Burt and Gary Beswick will be joined by Costa Rican fourth official Ricardo Montero as the team of officials.

The match will kick off at 11:00 pm Nigerian time( 7:00pm Chilean local time) and the Golden Eaglets would spot on the traditional green jersey.