FIFA U17 WORLD CUP - FINAL MATCH FACT: Nigeria – Mexico This is the pair’s third meeting in the U-17 World Cup. The first occurred in the group round in 1987 and was won 1-0 by Mexico. The last encounter took place earlier in this edition on 19 October, when Nigeria inflicted a resounding 6-1 defeat on the Mexicans in their opening match of the campaign. Nigeria have won three U-17 World Cup titles (1985,1993 and 2007) compared to Mexico’s two (2005 and 2011). This is the fourth U-17 World Cup to be staged in Asia. Nigeria won all three of the previous editions ,namely China PR 1985, Japan 1993 and Korea Republic 2007. Nigeria are playing in their seventh U-17 World Cup final, more than any other team has contested. The Golden Eaglets’ record in past title deciders stands at three wins and three defeats. Reigning champions Mexico have the chance to clinch a second consecutive U-17 world title, a feat achieved only by Brazil in 1997-99. This is the first final to be played between CONCACAF and CAF teams. Representatives of the two confederations have crossed paths 37 times in the competition, including 35 times in the first round,once in the quarter-finals (Costa Rica 2-0 Burkina Faso in 2001) and once in the match for third place (USA 0-2 Ghana in 1999). For the fifth time, two teams that met in the group round are reunited in the final. The same thing happened with Soviet Union and Nigeria in 1987, Spain and Ghana in 1991, Brazil and Australia in 1999 and finally France and Nigeria in 2001. Mexico lost one group match en route to the final,6-1 against none other than Nigeria. In previous editions, two sides lifted the U-17 World Cup trophy despite losing a match. They were France in 2001 and Mexico themselves in 2005. Nigeria have scored 23 goals so far in this campaign. The record for a single edition is held by Germany,who hit 24 in 2011.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 04:05:31 +0000
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