THE FIFA UN-20 World Cup will kick off today as teams in group A slug it out against teams in group B.
Checks by The ICIR show that three players of Nigerian descent will represent England at the tournament.
It would be recalled that in the edition held in 2017, when the Young Lions of England defeated Venezuela 1-0 to win the UN-20 World Cup in Korea, six players with Nigerian roots were part of the team.
The 2017 victory was England’s first major international football silverware since they won the 1966 World Cup.
Five players with Nigerian roots played for England in the 2017 final match against Venezuela. They are Sheyi Ojo, Fikayo Tomori, Dominic Solanke, Ademola Lookman and Joshua Onomah.
Ovie Ejaria, the sixth player of Nigerian origin in the squad, did not play in the final.
The English team for the 2023 UN-20 World Cup features players from top Premier League clubs, including Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, and Brentford.
The three players with Nigerian roots in the squad include Carney Chukwuemeka, who is of Igbo descent. He was born in Austria to Nigerian parents and then later moved and was raised in Northampton, England.
He is eligible to play for the national teams of Austria, England and Nigeria.
Also in the squad is Daniel Oyegoke who began his youth career as a forward in the Barnet Academy, before he moved to the Arsenal Academy in 2017.
He currently plays as a defender for Brentford. He attended Aldenham School.
The third player, Sam Edozie plays as a winger for Premier League club Southampton. He was born in England to an Igbo Nigerian father and an English mother.
The tournament will take place in Argentina, commencing on May 20.