Nigeria’s under-17 football team, the Golden Eaglets, were on Monday drawn in a difficult Group F of the 2013 Fifa under-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Nigeria have been drawn alongside Iraq, Sweden and the reigning champions Mexico in the first round of the championship.
Nigeria have won the under-17 World Cup on three occasions, most-recently in 2007 and were a losing finalists two years later.
Mexico, who are also CONCACAF champions, won the tournament on home soil in 2011.
It is the first time both Sweden and Iraq will be participating at the tourney after qualifying from the European Zone as one of the top four teams from the UEFA U17 Championship and finishing fourth in the Asian qualifiers respectively.
The tournament kicks off on October 17.
Group stage draw for the FIFA U–17 World Cup UAE 2013:
Group A (Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah): United Arab Emirates, Honduras, Brazil, Slovakia
Group B (Ras Al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi): Uruguay, New Zealand, Côte d’Ivoire, Italy
Group C (Fujairah, Sharjah): Croatia, Morocco, Panama, Uzbekistan
Group D (Sharjah, Fujairah): Tunisia, Venezuela, Russia, Japan
Group E (Dubai, Al Ain): Canada, Austria, Iran, Argentina
Group F (Al Ain, Dubai): Mexico, Nigeria, Iraq, Sweden