Next Sunday in Vina del Mar, Mexico will face Belgium in the third-place match, and Nigeria will do the same against Mali in the final.
Here are three takeaways after Mexico falls short from reaching its third consecutive U17 World Cup final:
1. Mexico's inability to convert first half chances proved costly
Mexico had the best start imaginable with an intense pressing that made Nigeria's midfielders and defenders give the ball away within seconds after recovering it. It was Mexico that was on top of the ball and creating scoring chances that could have placed El Tri's U17s with an early 2-0 lead.
Mexico's forwards Claudio Zamudio and Edgar Aguirre were elegant in protecting the ball, but were off in the definition. Nigeria's Akpan David Udoh had a brilliant save on a Joaquin Esquivel header that prevented Mexico from taking a 2-0 lead.
In the first 30 minutes, El Tri controlled the tempo of the match. At times, it looked like Nigeria's attack was only Victor Osimhen against Mexico's defense, but it was only Kevin Magana's goal that allowed Mexico to continue having the 1-0 lead.
It's right to say that in this tournament, Mexico have been able to spread the wealth in the scoring department, but against Nigeria, it was evident that Mario Arteaga's team lacked a prolific striker, who could have crushed the Super Eagles' hopes early on in the match.
Once Nigeria picked itself up and gained confidence, thanks to two golazos -- one sublime free-kick and the other a right-footed rocket from outside the box -- a series of complications arose for Mexico, and the solutions only came from individual brilliances as was Diego Cortes' Maradona-esque goal.
When the game was levelled at 2-2, Mexico was unable to take the 3-2 lead. El Tri either took bad shots in front of goal or gave bad passes in the final third. One of those bad passes culminated with the goal that handed Nigeria the 2-3 lead. Mexico wasted its excellent first half start, while Nigeria suffered. But when Emmanuel Amunike's team took control of the game, it didn't permit Mexico to make a surprising comeback.
Out of nine matches against African national teams in U17 World Cups, Mexico has only won twice -- against Nigeria in 1987 and against Congo in 2011. In 9 games, El Tri's record reads: seven losses and two wins.
But what's more alarming about the record is when you read that Mexico has allowed 27 goals and only netted eight times.
After Thursday night's semifinal win in Concepcion, Nigeria has three straight wins against Mexico. In those three games against the Super Eagles, the African national team has put 13 goals past Mexico, and El Tri has only scored three times. The dominance has been obvious.
On Thursday even though Mexico had an impressive start with an impeccable possession game that made Nigeria doubt for the first time in the World Cup, the end result put Nigeria in the final.
However, Mexico's U17s World Cup shouldn't go unnoticed because for a third straight time it reached the semifinals, and along the way it defeated national teams like Germany, Chile, and Argentina. Against Nigeria, Mexico gave a valiant performance, displaying a style of football that lives off the possession, and that's a positive for a country that has always battled to create its own football identity
3. Next Sunday, Nigeria will look to win its fifth U17 World Cup
Nigeria has 21 goals in this World Cup, and the tournament's leading goal-scorer in Osimhen, who has nine goals.
The favourite next Sunday will be the Super Eagles, but in front will be Mali, a side that has had the best defense in the tournament after only allowing two goals up to this stage.
If Nigeria wins in Vina del Mar, it will gain its fifth World Cup, meaning that it will increase its lead on Brazil as the national team with most U17 World Cups.
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