Gary CahillGetty

England vs Nigeria: Live blog, text commentary, line-ups, stream & TV channel

That's it from Wembley Stadium as we hope Nigeria put up a better show against the Czech Republic in their next outing. I’m Shina Oludare and it has been great bringing you this live update. We can continue the rest on Twitter @sportingshina. Good evening!

After a first half that didn't offer much, the game came alive in the second period. A moment of magic from Alex Iwobi gave Nigeria a glimmer of hope but could not get the equaliser

FULL TIME! ENGLAND 2-1 NIGERIA. The Three Lions continue with their unbeaten run while the Super Eagles must correct their flaws if they hope to make an appreciable impact in Russia.

90mins: Four minutes of stoppage time.

89mins: England are now just doing their best to see this game out. Nigeria have a few minutes to find their equaliser but they will need something special to beat Pickford.

86mins:  Delph whips a cross to the far post and he finds Rashford but the United forward gets underneath the ball and heads over.

Brian Idowu

83mins: Crucial intervention from Mikel, who stretches as far as he can to prevent Dier's ball finding Rashford and puts the ball behind for a throw-in.

80mins: Welbeck curves his run to get in behind the Nigeria defence but he wins a corner after a strong tackle inside the box. The Super Eagles still pressing hard for the equaliser.

77mins: Ighalo has worked hard but is now back on the bench with Iheanacho ready to impress as Ahmed Musa picks up a yellow card after a sloppy challenge.

74mins: Welbeck has more goals for England than anyone else in the current squad. He has 15 and will be looking to add to that in the next 15 minutes.

71 mins: Less than 19 minutes remaining in the exciting international friendly and you'd expect Nigeria to have at least one more sumptous moment. The problem is England will probably have the same with the introduction of Rashford.

68mins: Lingard's evening comes to an end and Loftus-Cheek gets an opportunity to impress from the bench, while Young is replaced by Spurs man Rose.

Mikel ObiGetty

65mins: Nigeria continue to keep England under pressure and they've certainly upped their game since getting a goal. Cahill continues to thwart their attacking efforts though, emerging at crucial periods to bring the end to the Eagles’ advances.

62mins: Here comes a chance for England as Eric Dier gets a free header from inside the six-yard box but he glides his effort wide of the far post.

59mins: Southgate may be tempted to use his bench in the next five or 10 minutes as his team continue to go through the motions in this second half.

56 mins: Nigeria’s response has been magnificent and they've rekindled the bite that they showed in the opening stages of the match. They're putting England under significant pressure when they don't have the ball and Three Lions are finding it difficult to move into space.

53 mins: Sterling goes down in the box after Uzoho comes out to meet him but the City man is booked for diving after going down before the pair collide.

50mins: FACT: Alex Iwobi's goal is the first Nigeria have ever scored in an international match against England, in what is the third meeting between the two nations

47mins: Alex Iwobi! He found the corner with his rebound after Odion Ighalo hit the post

47 mins: The game has settled back into the same style we saw for the majority of the first period as England dictate the tempo, while Nigeria who made four changes sit back to soak the pressure.

46 mins: Back underway at the Wembley Stadium, will the Super Eagles come back and win like they did against Argentina? It's time to find out!


HALF TIME

45mins: CHANCE - Iwobi's cross-field pass finds Moses who sets off on a mazy run. The Chelsea man eventually finds room to shoot but his low drive is saved easily by Pickford.

42mins: STAT: Harry Kane has scored eight goals in his last seven appearances for England, scoring at least once in six of those matches.

Harry Kane

39mins: Harry Kane doubles the lead after Shehu Abdullahi carelessly losses possession and the Tottenham Hotspur man  finds space on the edge of the box before smashing it into the bottom corner.

38mins: Sterling not too long ago almost punished Nigeria's shaky defence line as the Manchester City forward shots across the crossbar. The Super Eagles rear lacks coordination with Uzoho coming to the rescue on most occasions.

Alex Iwobi

35mins: Alex Iwobi drives down the English backline but his cross could not meet any Super Eagles. By chance, the ball finds Odion Ighalo and the fires towards Pickford who makes a simple catch.

32mins: Francis Uzoho comes to Nigeria's rescue as he leaves his near post to stop Ashley Young's cross. The left wingback was about to find a number of team-mates with his cross but he was denied in the end.

29mins: Victor Moses tried to latch onto a cross but eventually the hosts were vigilant to clear to safety. That was another nervous moments for England as the Africans are not lying down low.

26mins: Gernot Rohr’s men almost got the leveler as they sneak in past the Three Lions backline. Unfortunately, Ighalo cannot get to a twisting pass before Pickford.

23mins : Since Cahill’s early goal. it's been England controlling the tempo of the match. There's still not been too many chances created in the game though, with the majority of the play coming in the Super Eagles half.

20mins : Sterling and Young combine to slice open the Nigeria defence but the Manchester United man sees his shot blocked at close range.

17mins : England have put some lovely passes together but the final ball has just evaded them in the last five minutes.

14mins : Just over 10 minutes gone at Wembley and England look good for their lead. They have shown plenty of power from set-pieces, while Sterling has looked sharp on the ball. 

12mins : Sterling turns his marker with ease before running towards goal but he tries to dink it across goal and is unable to find the bottom corner

9mins :  England fans will be delighted with this start but Nigeria need to sharpen up in midfield if they are to find an equaliser. It is still early days but England have shown they will dominate in the middle of the park so far.

7mins : Dream start for England. They lead 1-0 after a superb header from Cahill after the Three Lions won the corner. The Chelsea man peeled away from his marker and guided the ball into the top corner. 

6mins :  CHANCE - Trippier steps up and curls the ball around the wall but Uzoho is on hand to palm it away for a corner.

3mins : England make a positive start with Alli charging down the left but his cutback is blocked at the near post and the referee then halts proceedings and gives Nigeria a free-kick.

1min : We're off! England straight onto the attack as the international friendly gets underway.


The two teams are on the field of play and we await the national anthems.

England defeated Nigeria 1-0 in their first ever meeting – on November 16,  1994  at Wembley. The friendly encounter was settled by David Platt’s  41st minute  effort. The second meeting was at the 2002 Fifa World Cup as both teams played a 0-0 on June 12 at Nagai Stadium, Osaka. That result counted for nothing for the Super Eagles as they kissed the competition goodbye, while the Three Lions scaled through to the Round of 16.

This is one of the biggest international friendlies today and a win for either Nigeria or England will boost their preparations for the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia. It is worthy of note that this encounter will be the third meeting between both countries.

1 hour until KO: Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the international friendly between England and Nigeria at Wembley Stadium! I am your host Shina Oludare 


Confirmed Team News


England XI vs Nigeria

England XI: Pickford; Trippier, Young, Walker, Stones, Cahill, Lingard, Dier, Kane, Sterling, Dele. Nigeria XI vs England

Nigeria XI:  Uzoho; Balogun, Troost-Ekong, Shehu, Idowu, Joel Obi, Mikel, Onazi, Moses, Iwobi, Ighalo.

TV Channel & Live Stream


In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).

New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.

US TV channelOnline stream
FOX Deportes / Fox Soccer Plusfubo TV (7-day free trial)

In Nigeria, the game can be watched live on TV on Super Sport 10 and SS3N. It can also be streamed live online using the BT Sport app.

Nigeria TV channel Online stream
SS10, SS3N BT Sport app
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