Nigeria national under-23 football team represents Nigeria in international football competitions in Olympic Games. The selection is limited to male players under the age of 23, except during the Olympic Games where the use of three overage players is allowed. The team is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation. In four appearances at the Olympic Games, the team has won gold in 1996, silver in 2008 and bronze in 2016.
 | |||
| Nickname(s) | Dream Team VII or Olympic Eagles | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Nigeria Football Federation | ||
| Other affiliation | Nigeria Olympic Committee | ||
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||
| Sub-confederation | WAFU (West Africa) | ||
| Head coach | Salisu Yusuf | ||
| Captain | Azubuike Okechukwu | ||
| Top scorer | Junior Ajayi (10) | ||
| Home stadium | Stephen Keshi Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | NGA | ||
| |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Appearances | 6 (first in 1968) | ||
| Best result | Gold Medal (1996) | ||
| AFCON U-23 | |||
| Appearances | 3 (first in 2011) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2015) | ||
| African Games | |||
| Appearances | 4 (first in 1973) | ||
| Best result | Gold Medal (1973) | ||
Medal record | |||
Competitive record
editOlympic Games record
edit| Olympic Games | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances: 4 | ||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| Until 1988 | See Nigeria national football team | |||||||
| did not qualify | ||||||||
| Gold Medal | 1st | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 6 | |
| Quarter-finals | 8th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 10 | |
| did not qualify | ||||||||
| Silver Medal | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | |
| did not qualify | ||||||||
| Bronze Medal | 3rd | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 10 | |
| did not qualify | ||||||||
| Total | Gold Medal | 4/8 | 22 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 41 | 30 |
- Prior to the Barcelona 1992 campaign, the Football at the Summer Olympics was open to full senior national teams.
African Games record
edit| African Games | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| Bronze Medal | 3rd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 3 | |
| Bronze Medal | 3rd | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | |
| did not qualify | ||||||||
| Silver Medal | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 2 | |
| did not qualify | ||||||||
| Bronze Medal | 3rd | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
| See Nigeria national under-20 football team | ||||||||
| Total | Gold Medal | 4/7 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 33 | '12 |
- Prior to the 1991 All-Africa Games campaign, the football tournament was open to full senior national teams.
- 2019 edition of the football tournament was played by the U-20 team.
U-23 Africa Cup of Nations record
edit| U-23 Africa Cup of Nations | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances: 2 | ||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| Group stage | 6th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | |
| Champions | 1st | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5 | |
| Group stage | 6th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
| did not qualify | ||||||||
| Total | Champions | 1/3 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 11 |
Team honours and achievements
editIntercontinental
Continental
Other
- Inter Continental Cup
- Winners: 2008
- Niger Tournament[1]
- Winners: 2002
- TIFOCO Tournament[2]
- Third-place: 2003
Players
editCurrent squad
editSquad for the 2023 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualifiers vs. Guinea [3]
Overage players in Olympic Games
edit| Tournament | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uche Okechukwu (DF) | Emmanuel Amunike (MF) | Daniel Amokachi (FW) | |
| Godwin Okpara (DF) | Garba Lawal (MF) | did not select | |
| Peter Odemwingie (FW) | did not select | ||
| Daniel Akpeyi (GK) | Mikel John Obi (MF) | did not select | |
Recent results
edit2019
edit| 10 September 2019 2019 U-23 AFCON Q | Nigeria | 5-0 | | Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba |
| 16:00 UTC+1 | Report | Referee: Bangaly Konaté (Guinea) |
| 9 November 2019 2019 U-23 AFCON GS | Nigeria | 0-1 | | Al Salam Stadium, Cairo |
| 18:00 | Report | Referee: Mohamed Maarouf (Egypt) |
| 12 November 2019 2019 U-23 AFCON GS | Zambia | 1-3 | Nigeria | Al Salam Stadium, Cairo |
| 21:00 |
|
Report | Referee: Slim Belkhouas (Tunisia) |
| 15 November 2019 2019 U-23 AFCON GS | Nigeria | 0-0 | | Al Salam Stadium, Cairo |
| 21:00 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Niger International Tournament 2002". Rsssf.com. 21 December 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
- ^ "TIFOCO Tournament 2003". Rsssf.com. 27 March 2003. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
- ^ "30 players called up for 2024 Olympics playoffs". NFF. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
External links
edit- Official Nigeria Football Federation website Archived 25 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine