Falconets crush New Caledonia 10-1, move to U-20 World Cup knockout stage

Nigeria’s Falconets have made it to the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. They achieved this by beating New Caledonia 10-1 in their last Group F match in Poland on Sunday.

This win gave Nigeria four points from three matches. They finished second in the group behind Spain. This means they will move on to the Round of 16.

Ramotalahi Kareem and substitute Winner David both scored hat-tricks for Nigeria. Rebecca Adegbemile also scored twice. Seimeyeha Akekoromowei and Tosin Rafiu added to the scoreline.

Kareem started the scoring with a penalty in the 17th minute. Two minutes later, Adegbemile made it 2-0. Akekoromowei scored the third goal in the 23rd minute. Kareem then scored again in the 27th minute, putting Nigeria ahead 4-0 by half-time.

David came on at the start of the second half. She scored in the 60th minute to make it 5-0. Kareem completed her hat-trick just four minutes later. Rafiu then added Nigeria’s seventh goal in the 70th minute. Adegbemile scored her second goal seven minutes after that.

David found the net twice in the last 15 minutes. This brought Nigeria’s total to 10-0. New Caledonia managed to score a consolation goal through Joceline Kourevi in the 89th minute.

This result leaves Moses Aduku’s team second in Group F with four points. Spain topped the group with nine points. China also ended with four points after losing 3-1 to Spain. However, Nigeria advanced over China because of goal difference.

Nigeria started their campaign with a 2-0 loss to Spain. They then drew 0-0 with China. The Falconets have reached the final of the U-20 Women’s World Cup twice before. They are now set to advance to the knockout stage.

FIFA states that the top two teams in each group and the four best third-placed teams qualify for the knockout rounds.