Nigeria, Angola advance to knockout stages at World Cup

Wednesday Oct 30, 2019. 10:00

Ibrahim Said scored a hat-trick as Nigeria sealed their place in the second round of the 2019 FIFA Under-17 World Cup with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Ecuador.

Another African side, Angola, also sealed their Last 16 place as they claimed a 2-1 victory over Canada on Tuesday.

With two victories from their opening two games, Nigeria have booked a knockout place as Said netted the first treble of the competition with a couple of late strikes.

Said capitalized on a poor pass from Ecuador goalkeeper Joan Lopez to give his side an early lead, but the South American side equalized when Nigeria gloveman Daniel Jinadu bundled the ball into his own net.

Ecuador then hit the front via a penalty 10 minutes into the second half, but Said pounced to score twice in the closing stages, his second goal a superb long-range effort, to secure the points for the Super Eaglets.

Angola also made it two wins from two as David netted in the fourth minute of injury-time at the end of the game.

Zini had put the Angolans ahead on 31 minutes, but Canada equalized shortly after the break through Jacen Russell-Rowe.

Having had a goal disallowed in injury-time, it looked as though Angola would have to settle for a point, until David popped up with the decisive moment in the match.

Senegal will also be looking to make it back-to-back wins when they face the Netherlands on Wednesday. The Dutch were surprise 3-0 losers to Japan in their opener, while Senegal defeated the United States.