Flying Eagles Striker;Tijani celebrate his goal.

 NIGERIA 1-1 UKRAINE: VAR penalty earns Flying Eagles a spot in U20 World Cup round 16

The Flying Eagles of Nigeria could not defeat already qualified Ukraine in the third match of the Group D in the FIFA Under 20 world cup as Tijani Mohammed scored and missed a penalty to earn the Africans a spot in the second round on Thursday evening.

Nigeria needed all three points to either finish first or second to be sure of a place in the round of 16 in the FIFA under 20 World Cup in Poland, but striker Tujani Mohammed missed a penalty just before the break, before scoring another after the restart.

Ukraine dominated possession in the early exchanges of the match but their final balls were poor, but the Flying Eagles got back into the game going forward, moving the ball quickly when they pick up possession to try and find a room, but their final poor deliveries also affected them.

Nigeria had an early attempt after with a quick possession to try and find space, but the Ukrainians remained firm defensively, and soon were on the attack as well with a smart start, but they did not have all the way in the opening exchanges and Nigeria were the ones looking fairly dangerous when they push forward.

Nigeria soon got into trouble as Danylo Sikan heads Ukraine ahead from Oleksii Kashchuk’s cross. The Flying Eagles goalkeeper Oremade could have done better with his timing. Things now looked really bad for the Nigerian team, who could be eliminated with a loss.

Chance to draw level for Nigeria late in the first half as Oleksandr Safronov fouled Tijani Mohammed, and referee Rapallini Fernando points to the spot. But, the Eagles striker failed to level at the end of the first half and could not level matters for the Africans.

Tijani had a second chance as the Video Assistant Referee VAR was consulted as Nigeria appealed for a handball and it certainly struck the arm of Popov. It was headed down onto the arm and the referee has trotted to the touchline to assess the incident, he then pointed to the spot to award the second penalty.

Tijani Mohammed made no mistake this time as he made amends for his first penalty miss to send goalkeeper Lunin the wrong way. The Flying Eagles were back to life.

Makanjuola came close to getting the three points for Nigeria as he crossed from a delightful corner into the area but Real Madrid goalkeeper, Lunin made a fine save. The game ended one-all and Ukraine finished as group winners while the FLying Eagles of Nigeria will settle for third as the USA defeated Qatar by a single goal.

Nigeria, however, will definitely qualify for the round of 16 as one of the best third-placed team with four points and a positive goal difference of two. Now, they will play either Italy, or their African counterpart Senegal, who have been impressive in this competition.