Dream Team VI Know opponents April 14

Nigeria’s under 23 national team, Dream Team VI, will know its opponents for the 2016 summer’s Olympic in Brazil in the draw to be held at the Maracanã Stadium on 14 April 2016 at 10.30 local time (15.30 CET).

Nigeria as the African champions in the U-23 category will take the lead in Pot 2 men’s tournament. The Samson Siasia-led side emerged winners of the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations following their 2-1 win over their Algerian counterparts at the Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium, Dakar, Senegal last year.

Nigeria alongside Algeria and South Africa will represent Africa in the Rio Olympic men’s competition.

The Organising Committee for the Olympic on Friday allocated the 16 qualified teams to four pots of four teams each, based on a ranking built according to past sporting performance.

The ranking is based on the total points obtained in the last five Olympic Football Tournaments (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 for a loss). The ranking used to build the pots is thus based on the points obtained at the 2012, 2008, 2004, 2000 and 1996 Olympics.

The ranking is weighted so that recent performances play a more prominent role, and a bonus is given to those teams who finished their qualifying competition as continental champions.

FIFA’s general principle is to ensure that no group has more than one team from the same confederation drawn into it.

Pot 1            Pot 2           Pot3               Pot 4

Brazil           Nigeria        Sweden              Algeria

Argentina        Korea Rep.      Fiji               Colombia

Mexico           Honduras       Portugal            Denmark

Japan            Iraq         South Africa          Germany