South Africa and Nigeria have been eliminated from the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile after suffering 3–1 and 4–0 defeats to Colombia and Argentina, respectively, on Wednesday night.
Amajita began their campaign with a 2–1 loss to France but bounced back with consecutive victories — a 5–0 win over New Caledonia and 2–1 over the USA — to reach the round of 16.
For Nigeria, their campaign started with a 1–0 loss to Norway before a 3–2 win over Saudi Arabia, and a 1–1 draw with Colombia saw them advance as one of the best third-placed teams, only to be eliminated by Argentina.
Morocco is now the only African side remaining in the tournament. The Atlas Lions began strongly, defeating Spain 2–0 and Brazil 2–1 before losing 1–0 to Mexico. They will face South Korea in the early hours of Friday to fight for a place in the quarterfinals.
So far, Mexico, who eliminated hosts Chile, will face Argentina in the last eight, while Spain, who defeated Ukraine, will clash with Colombia. France knocked out Japan 1–0 to advance to the quarterfinals, where they will meet Norway, who defeated Paraguay.
Meanwhile, the USA, Italy, South Korea, and Morocco will compete for the remaining two spots in the quarterfinals.
