Earlier in the week, the Golden Eaglets had qualified for the last 16 after beating hosts Chile 5-1 having already secured a 2-0 victory over the USA in the their opening game. With the match against Croatia just a formality, the Eaglets could afford to lose it and did despite going ahead in the first half.
In the 20th minute, star striker Victor Osimhen, who now has four goals to his name in the tournament, beat the offside trap and rounded Croatian goalkeeper Adrian Semper top score the opener. As early as the fourth minute, after an impressive counter attack, he had slotted a shot past Semper only to see it hit the base of the goal post.
Despite going behind, Croatia continued to have the majority of possession for the remainder of the half and in the 39th minute, skipper Nikola Moro had a free-kick superbly by Nigerian goalkeeper Akpan Udoh. Likewise, Borna Sosa's goal-bound shot was deflected for a corner after defender Ejike Ikwu's intervention.
At half-time, Croatia had 18 attempts on goal to Nigeria's three and when the teams returned from the break, the Croatians appeared desperate. Josip Brekalo scored the equaliser on the 50th minute after Moro wriggled his way behind the Nigerian defence and found his team-mate on the back post.
Croatia then used their momentum to take the lead four minutes later when they capitalised on an error from Nigeria's backline. Karlo Majic cooly curled in a right-footed shot to score his second of the tournament and more importantly, give his team the lead.
After that, there were chances for both sides towards the end and Nigeria threatened to score an equaliser in the final minutes. The stand-out moment was when Croatian defender Branimir Kalaica's got in a last-ditch block on Samuel Chukwueze to keep his side 2-1 ahead.
Croatia held on to their lead in the end to become the first Croatian team ever to reach the Round of 16 in the tournament and will now face the runners-up in Group C on Thursday October 29. Nigeria will wait to see which third-placed team from Groups C, D or E they will come up against in the Round of 16 on Wednesday 28 October.
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