UNIUYO TUSKITES, UNICAL MALABITES, ABU NOBLES and KUST PYRAMIDS have all advanced to the round of 16 in the ongoing 2019 Higher Institutions Football League 2019 season on Thursday, 27th June. 

UNICAL MALABITES emerged as group C winners after qualifying automatically due to their outstanding performance as one of the Super 4 in the 2018 season, while UNIUYO TUSKITES go through as runners up after ousting DELSU TITANS by virtue of scoring the most goals after they both ended with a goal difference of +1.

UNIUYO TUSKITES, opened the group games with a comfortable 4:1 win over IAUE Minders, thanks to Idara Jude’s impressive hat trick and Ikemefuna Frank’s converted spot kick before ending the group with a disappointing 2 nil loss to DELSU Titans. 

However, they hung on to go through alongside group leaders UNICAL Malabites. UNIUYO TUSKITES are paired in group C, with UNICAL Malabites, DELSU Titans and IAUE Minders.

In Zaria, ABU NOBLES topped Group G with 9 points to go through to the round of 16, after outclassing their opponents to outline their intentions as contenders for the trophy. The other qualification spot in the group however went down to the wire as KUST PYRAMIDS emerged after securing a hard fought win against ATBU Bravehearts. The match which ended 3-1 in favour of KUST will see them join ABU NOBLES as one of the qualifiers from the group at the expense of UNIMAID DESERT WARRIORS who lost narrowly in the other fixture in the group.

The league is organised by PACE Sports and Entertainment Marketing in partnership with the Nigerian Universities Games Association (NUGA). The top 32 Universities from NUGA-member institutions will play over a period of 21 weeks, with the final four billed for the Agege Stadium, Lagos.