The Falconets edged South Korea early on Monday to advance to the U-20 Women's World Cup quarterfinals.
Nigeria won 1-0 and advanced to the round of eight thanks to a screamer from Esther Onyenezide in the 83rd minute.
The Nigerian midfielder Onyenezide, who has excelled for his team in Group C, collected the ball expertly and fired a potent shot past the Korean goalkeeper Kim Kyeong-Hee in what would likely win tournament goal of the year.
The team of coach Chris Danjuma had an opportunity to go in front early on, but Basirat Amoo's free kick did not concern the Korean goalie.
Although the Asians would have also scored, efforts from Lee Soo-In and Garam Chun failed to beat the Nigerian goalkeeper.
When the second half began, both sides made frantic efforts to score. Once more, the Nigerian goalkeeper Oyono Omini was in fine form and made some spectacular saves to keep her side in the match. One such save was around the 64th minute when she nicely parried away a shot destined for the top right corner.
But with about seven minutes left to play Onyenezide conjoured a screamer that eventually sent the 2014 runners-up to the last eight of the competition in Costa Rica.
Having won their first two games, Nigeria’s next match against Canada will afford Coach Danjuma the chance to rest some key players and also give others an opportunity to test the action.