Abraham Romero made eight saves, but it wasn't enough for Mexico to overcome a superior Nigeria squad who defeated El Tri 4-2 in the U-17 World Cup semifinals on Thursday.
The LA Galaxy Academy goalkeeper put forth another strong performance for Mexico, who took an early lead thanks to a goal from Kevin Magaña. The Golden Eaglets soon jumped on El Tri, however, scoring twice before the end of the first half with Kelechi Nwakali and Orji Okwonkwo beating Romero to put Nigeria ahead.
Mexico found life in the 59th minute when Diego Cortes dribbled through the entirety of the Nigerian defense and capped off his run with an impressive finish to put El Tri on level terms. From there it was all Nigeria, however, as Osinachi Ebere put the Eaglets ahead in the 67th minute before the tournament's leading scorer Victor Osimhen finished off the scoring with a penalty kick goal in the 83rd minute.
Mexico will face Belgium in the third-place match on Sunday. Nigeria will take on Mali in an all-African matchup on Sunday as they look to secure their second straight U-17 title.
