AFCON 2025
Nigeria’s Falconets will face England’s Young Lionesses in the Round of 16 of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup on Thursday in Bielsko-Biala, setting up a rematch of a fixture the two sides last contested more than a decade ago.
Moses Aduku’s side booked their spot in the knockout stage with a 10-1 demolition of New Caledonia on Sunday, finishing second in Group F on four points behind group winners Spain, who topped the section with nine points. England also progressed as runners-up, finishing on four points behind Brazil who finished top of the Group with maximum points.
The two nations last met at this level at the 2014 edition in Canada, where Nigeria came from behind to beat England 2-1 in the group stage, with Loveth Ayila cancelling out an early Nikita Parris goal before Asisat Oshoala converted from the penalty spot to claim the win.
Nigeria head into Thursday’s tie with a strong pedigree in the competition’s knockout stages, having reached the final on two occasions, losing 2-0 to Germany in 2010 and 0-1 after extra time to the same opponents in 2014. The Falconets also finished third in 2012, and their run to this year’s Round of 16 extends an unbroken run of qualification for every edition of the tournament since its inception in 2002.
England, by contrast, have never gone beyond the last four, with their best finish coming in 2018, when they claimed third place. This year’s run marks a continuation of steady recent progress for the Young Lionesses, who have shown resilience throughout the group stage despite a narrow defeat to Brazil in their final group match.
The Falconets are undefeated against the Young Lionesses on three occasions in the history of the tournament with a win and two draws.
Nigeria remain the only African representative left in the tournament, following the elimination of Ghana, Benin and Tanzania, adding extra weight to their bid to go one step further than their previous two final appearances.
