FIFA's U-17 World Cup final takes place on Friday November 8 in Abu Dhabi. Mexico's 'Mini Tri' will be defending their title against three-time champions Nigeria after both comfortably won their semi-finals. Mexico triumphed over Argentina 3-0 while Nigeria defeated Sweden by the same margin. It is sure to be a close final: while Nigeria blew Mexico to smithereens in their opening match 6-1, Mexico has shown incredible form to knock out Brazil and cruise to the finals. Nigeria leads in the scoring charts with 23 goals so far.
Mexico's strength lies in its strong defense tea. Raul 'The Octopus' Gudiño lived up to his nickname with superb goalkeeping agaisn Argentina and two spectacular penalty saves in the quarter finals against Brazil. Meanwhile, Nigeria will bring its incredible offensive duo of Taiwo Awoniyi and Kelechi Iheanacho. The partnership lead to some impressive goals agains Uruguay and the opening goal agains Sweden. Both teams were heavy favorites prior to the competition, and fans have not been disappointed.
This will be the seventh time a team has defended the title in the U-17 World Cup after, Brazil (in 1999 and 2005), Ghana (1993 and 1997) and Nigeria (1987 and 2009) all achieved the same feat. However, Brazil are the only team to have successfully defended their crown.
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