Golden Eaglets are world champions; Nigeria wins a record fourth under-17 World Cup title

Mexico's Erick Aguirre helped Nigeria along in the ninth minute with an own-goal. Nigeria added second goal from Kelechi Iheanacho in the 56th minute and the third from a Musa Muhammed free kick in the 81st minute.

 

The African nation, driven by a raucous crowd inside Zayed Stadium, put in an outstanding display to win the tournament for a fourth time.        

The final was a rematch of the Nigeria's 6-1 first round win over Mexico. The Golden Eaglets earned this junior world trophy for the fourth time, one better than Brazil.

Mexico played aggressively for the first two minutes, moving the ball and keeping the Nigerians in chase. El Tri got their first chance on goal after six minutes after Osvaldo Rodriguez crossed from the left. But Alejandro Diaz couldn't keep his close-range effort the right side of the post. Two minutes later, Ivan Ochoa -- who scored twice in the semifinal win over Argentina -- saw his header pushed over the bar by Dele Alampasu.

The Mexicans couldn't capitalize on the corner, but Kelechi Iheanacho sparked the counter-attack all the way up the field. With just one Mexican defender in position, Iheanacho passed to Taiwo Awoniyi who then passed to Musa Yahaha, Mexican midfielder Erick Aguirre got a piece of it, but mistakenly hit the ball into his own net in the attempt to recover.
Golden Eaglets’ dominated for most part of the first half but couldnt add to there 1 goal advantage.

Golden Eaglets’ onslaught continued 11 minutes after the restart when Iheanacho put another past a shell-shocked Mexico, after Gudino couldn't hold on to a strike from captain Muhammed.

Mexico U17 boss Raul Gutierrez made all his substitutions midway through the second half but the changes could not lift his side, as the Golden Eaglets stamped their authority on the game.
Mexico did fashion a rare chance as the second half wore on, but Ochoa’s header from close range went off target.
However, Muhammed sealed the win with less than nine minutes to play in Abu Dhabi courtesy of a well-taken free kick, after Iheanacho had been fouled by Pedro Teran.
Nigeria now hold the record for the most goals scored in a single U17 World Cup tournament with 26 goals, eclipsing the record set by Germany in 2011.
assurance goal at the 81st minute when Musa Muhammed sent his free kick into the top corner.

The final was a rematch of the Nigeria's 6-1 first round win over Mexico. The Golden Eaglets earned this junior world trophy for the fourth time, one better than Brazil.