Nigeria national under-17 football team
national association football team
The Nigeria national U-17 football team, known as the Golden Eaglets, is the youngest team that represents Nigeria in football. The team is the most successful in international football for their age group, winning a record five FIFA U-17 World Cup titles and have been runners-up on three occasions. They are also two-time Africa U-17 Cup of Nations champions with their most recent title at the 2007 edition.
History
The team won the maiden edition of FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1985 hosted by China, as well as the 1993, 2007, 2013, and 2015 editions (becoming only the second team since Brazil to win it back to back); making them the first team ever to win the junior world cup five times. They also won the African Under-17 Championship in 2001 and 2007, and were runners-up in 1995 and 2013.
After the 2007 World Cup victory there was some discussion as to whether the success should be rewarded in the form of cash, or if longer-term investments were more suitable for teenage players. It was pointed out that some previous players had found themselves reduced to poverty due to injury or mismanagement of their funds.
Heading into the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, head coach Henry Nwosu was replaced by John Obuh, coach of Kwara United.
Although Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, they participated again in the 2013 edition of the tournament. Planning was thrown into disarray however in August when key members of the team was determined by MRI scanning to be overage and excluded from the team.
The public source identifies “Nigeria national under-17 football team” as national association football team. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Nigeria, national and under-17.
Why this record matters
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3590737. The first chronological checks are 2007, 1985, 1993 and 2013.
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This entry incorporates text from “Nigeria national under-17 football team” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.