Nigeria’s Falconets have booked their place in the Round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup after producing their biggest win in the history of their campaign at the tournament.
The Nigerian side defeated New Caledonia 10-1 in their final Group F match on Sunday in Łódź, Poland, responding in emphatic fashion after a difficult start to the competition.
Moses Aduku’s team had collected just one point from their opening two matches, losing 2-0 to Spain before playing out a goalless draw against China. That left the Falconets needing a strong result against New Caledonia to keep their knockout-stage hopes alive.
They delivered exactly that, scoring four times before half-time and adding six more after the break to secure second place in Group F with four points.
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Falconets Take Control Before Half-Time
Nigeria wasted little time establishing their superiority against the Oceania debutants.
Ramotalahi Kareem opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 17th minute before Rebecca Adegbemile doubled the advantage just two minutes later. Janet Seimeyeha Akekoromowei then added a third in the 23rd minute, giving New Caledonia an increasingly difficult task.
Kareem struck again four minutes later to complete her brace and give Nigeria a commanding 4-0 lead before the interval.
The early goals were particularly important for the Falconets, who had struggled to find the net in their first two group matches. Their attacking play against New Caledonia was sharper, with the team making better use of their chances and keeping the pressure on their opponents.
By half-time, Nigeria had already done much of the work required to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Kareem and David Complete Nine-Goal Rout
The Falconets returned for the second half with the same attacking intent and quickly turned a convincing victory into a record-breaking result.
Substitute Winner Onajite David scored Nigeria’s fifth goal in the 60th minute before Kareem completed her hat-trick four minutes later. Tosin Rafiu then made it 7-0 in the 70th minute, while Adegbemile added her second goal four minutes later.
David continued the scoring with two more goals, completing her own hat-trick and taking Nigeria to nine.
New Caledonia eventually found a consolation goal through Joceline Kourevi in the 89th minute. The goal carried its own significance, as it was New Caledonia’s first-ever goal at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
David, however, had the final say. She scored again in the fourth minute of added time to complete Nigeria’s 10-1 victory.
Kareem and David became only the third and fourth Nigerian players to score hat-tricks at the tournament, joining Maureen Eke and Francisca Ordega. Asisat Oshoala remains the only Nigerian to score four goals in a single U-20 World Cup match.
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Nigeria Set Up England Clash in Round of 16
The victory moved Nigeria to four points and secured second place in Group F behind Spain. The result also made the Falconets the only African team to progress to the Round of 16.
More importantly, the 10-1 scoreline surpassed Nigeria’s previous biggest victory at the competition, an 8-0 win over Finland in 2006.
For Aduku’s side, the result offers a significant boost after two frustrating opening matches. The Falconets now have momentum, confidence and plenty of goals heading into the knockout stage.
Their next challenge will be England on Thursday, 17 September. Nigeria will hope the attacking performance against New Caledonia is the beginning of another strong run at a tournament where they have twice finished as runners-up, in 2010 and 2014.
The Falconets have made it through. Now, the real knockout battle begins. Follow RefinedNG for more updates from Nigeria’s U-20 Women’s World Cup campaign.