Falconets knocked out of World Cup by Colombia

Nigeria's U-20 women's team, the Falconets, were eliminated from the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup on Sunday. They lost 1-0 to Colombia in the quarter-finals at Lodz, Poland. The defeat came after a tense match where Colombia scored in the second minute of added time.

Valerin Loboa found the net just before the final whistle, putting Colombia into the semi-finals. The Falconets had done well to keep Colombia from scoring for the first 90 minutes of the game.

There were moments of danger for Nigeria. In the 19th minute, Janet Akekoromowei nearly scored when her shot hit the crossbar. Tumininu Adeshina also had a good chance in the 38th minute, but Colombia's goalkeeper Luisa Agudelo saved her low shot by pushing it over the bar.

After halftime, Nigeria continued to attack. Tosin Rafiu, Akekoromowei, and Onyedikachi Ekezie all worked hard in the attacking area. Then, things took a turn in the 77th minute when Kafayat Mafisere received a straight red card for fouling Samantha Rodriguez.

Despite being down to ten players, the Falconets didn’t give up. They continued to frustrate Colombia with their attack while the Colombians tried to counter. Loboa was quick to react when she got a through ball. Her first shot was saved by Nigeria's goalkeeper and captain Christiana Uzoma, but she managed to score from the rebound.

Emmanuel Ikpeme, the NFF Acting General Secretary, praised the players for their effort. He said, "You gave your best out there, and the NFF and every Nigerian watching saw that you held nothing back."

Ikpeme added that Nigeria had enough chances to win the match but encouraged the team not to be discouraged by the loss. Chioma Ohakim, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Poland, also commended the players for their hard work and determination in the tournament.