World football ruling body, FIFA, has hailed Nigeria for parading the youngest team during the qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Gernot Rohr qualified the Super Eagles for their sixth Mundial with a team predominately made up of youngsters.
Leading the bunch is Premier quartet, Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Wilfred Ndidi and Ola Aina all 21.
FIFA made the commendation on Tuesday following a report by a Switzerland-based independent study Centre International d’Étude du Sport (CIES).
World Cup champions Germany emerged as the second country that had the youngest squad, while England was third.
A statement on FIFA’s website reads: “The CIES Football Observatory and FIFA have joined forces to analyse the profiles of the players who were fielded by the 32 qualified teams on the road to Russia.
“The analysis highlights the diversity of the squads in terms of both age and height, as well as the importance of migration with almost two-thirds of players currently playing for clubs outside of the association they represent.
“While Nigeria fielded the youngest players (with an average age of 24.9 years) in the qualifiers, followed by title-holders Germany (25.7) and by U-17 and U-20 world champions England (25.9), at the opposite end of the spectrum were two newcomers Panama (29.4 years) and Iceland (29.0), as well as 2014 FIFA World Cup quarter-finalists Costa Rica (29.0).”
The Super Eagles, who are in Pot 4, will know their group stage opponents when the draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup holds on Friday, December 1, in Russia.
