Izuchukwu Okosi
England international of Nigeria descent, Bukayo Saka, made the list of 11 players named by football statistical website, Whoscored.com, in its ‘FIFA World Cup U-23 Best Eleven’, Prime Business Africa reports.
Saka scored three goals at the World Cup, although the ‘Three Lions’ ultimately exited the tournament in the quarterfinals stage after they were defeated 2-1 by France.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelSaka became the only Anglo-Nigerian to make Gareth Southgate’s side to Qatar 2022, as the duo of Tammy Abraham (AS Roma) and Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan) were dropped. Also dropped was Eberechi Eze, who has not played for England but was in the England’s 55-man provisional squad.
Other notable youngsters that made the cut include Saka’s England international team mate, Jude Bellingham, Brazil’s Vinicious Jnr, Ghana’s Mohamed Kudus, Netherlands’ Gody Gakpo, Ibrahima Konate, Alphonso Davis and Bayern Munich’s Diego Dalot, as well as Germany’s Jamal Musiala, who has Nigerian origin.
Ajax and Ghana’s Kudus scored a brace against South Korea to become the first Ghanaian player to score two goals in a World Cup game.
Incidentally, most of the players that made the cut in Whoscored were not able to advance in the tournament with their teams after getting eliminated at different stages.
Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez was selected by the FIFA Technical Study Group, which Nigeria’s France 98 World Cup star, Sunday Oliseh, was part of.
The Group is made up of legends of the game, mostly those that have featured at the World Cup for their countries.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
