See the match report on England's third World Cup 2002 game here.
 

This is the last World Cup group match between England and Nigeria and is to be played on Wednesday 12th June at 7.30am (British Summer time) in Osaka, Japan. The only time England have previously played Nigeria was in a friendly game on 16 November 1994 at Wembley when England won 1-0 with a goal from David Platt.

After England's impressive 1-0 win against Argentina not many changes to the England team are expected. England only need a draw in this game to qualify for the second round and could qualify with a loss if Sweden beat Argentina in the other Group F match played at the same time. If England lose and Argentina beat or draw with Sweden then goal difference comes into play (if this is the same then goals scored and then the results between the teams is used to determine the final group placing).

                                                          


Please click here to see the full England squad

Could the England starting line up for the match be:

 
                                                        David Seaman
 
  Danny Mills                      Sol Campbell               Rio Ferdinand               Ashley Cole

  David Beckham                Nicky Butt                   Paul Scholes                 Trevor Sinclair

                                          Michael Owen              Emile Heskey

 
 


 
                                                               

In the World Cup 2002, Nigeria have already lost 1-0 to Argentina and 2-1 to Sweden and therefore cannot qualify for the second round of the competition. They are still dangerous opponents for England, however, as their friendly wins against the Republic of Ireland and Scotland earlier this year have shown.
 

                                
                            Julius Agahowa puts the ball just inside this post: 1-0
                    (from Nigeria's strong friendly game against the Republic of Ireland on 16 May 2002)

Nigeria also beat Scotland 2-1 in Pittodrie, Scotland on 17 April 2002.

 

The full 23 man Nigerian squad submitted to FIFA on 21 May was:

Goalkeepers: 1. Ike Shorunmu (Lausanne), 2. Austin Ejide (Gabros), 3. Vincent Enyeama (Enyimba)

Defenders: 4. Taribo West (free agent), 5. Joseph Yobo (Marseille), 6. Isaac Okoronkwo (Shakhtar Donetsk), 7. Christopher Justice (Antwerp), 8. Ifeanyi Udeze (PAOK Salonika), 9. Rabiu Afolabi (Standard Liege), 10. Eric Ejiofor (Maccabi Haifa), 11. Efe Sodje (Crewe), 12. Celestine Babayaro (Chelsea)

Midfielders: 13. Agustine Okocha (Paris St Germain), 14. Pius Ikedia (Ajax), 15. James Obiorah (Lokomotiv Moscow), 16. Garba Lawal (Roda), 17. Mutiu Adepoju (Salamanca), 18. Benedict Akwuegbu (Shenyeng Gendi), 19. Femi Opabunmi (Grasshoper)

Attackers: 20. Nwankwo Kanu (Arsenal), 21. Julius Aghahowa (Shakhtar Donetsk), 22. Bartholomew Ogbeche (Paris St Germain), 23. John Utaka (Al-Saad)

On 10 June, the Nigerian striker, Kanu ruled himself out of the World Cup match with England when he pulled up in training. Kanu said that his team should still do well without him as knocking England out would give people a lot of satisfaction back in Nigeria.

See the match report on England's third World Cup 2002 game here.