NZ to face Nigeria at U-17 World Cup

New Zealand faces an intimidating second round match at the under-17 World Cup soccer tournament on Friday when they play hosts Nigeria.

The top 16 teams were confirmed after the completion of group play today, with Nigeria qualifying top of a "group of death", featuring Argentina, Germany and Honduras.

New Zealand coach Steve Cain said he was excited with the prospect of playing the Nigeria at the 60,000-seat Abuja National Stadium.

"The occasion will be absolutely fantastic. The crowd will be huge and the atmosphere will be absolutely magical," Cain said.

"The African people have been very friendly to us and very complimentary to us when we've played. We've won some hearts and minds and we'd like to continue that with a game against the host nation."

New Zealand laid claim to a piece of football history yesterday when they progressed into the last 16 with a 1-1 draw over Turkey.

Cain said the match was everything the team could have hoped for.

"At a World Cup, every team you play is going to be hard so you'd rather have a game in front of a full house. We've backed ourselves all tournament and we'll do so again against Nigeria. We've shown we're a very hard team to beat."

Kick off for the New Zealand-Nigeria match is 7am NZT Friday.

- NZPA