Falconets and Golden Eaglets win in World Cup qualifier and WAFU-B U17 Championship

Nigeria’s U20 girls, the Falconets, defeated their Rwandan counterparts 4-0 in a 2026 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup qualifying match at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan.

Goals by Precious Oscar, Tumininu Adeshina, Janet Akekoromowei and Alaba Olabiyi steered the Falconets to a 5-0 aggregate win, and a date with either Senegal or Algeria in the third round of the series in February next year. 

Playing with purpose, passion and unceasing energy, the Falconets set off with zest and verve from the first blast of Gambian referee Ngum Fatou’s whistle, and were almost one goal to the good in the 3rd minute, but Janet Akekoromowei’s chip from close range missed the target.

Nine minutes later, the goal finally came. Effervescent winger Tessy Ojiyovwi sped down the left wing and crossed for Precious Oscar to side-foot past goalkeeper Iramuzi Belise.

Belise was saved from Akekoromowei three minutes later, but was hapless as she tipped defender Tumininu Adeshina’s corner kick into her net in the 20th minute for Nigeria’s second.

On the half-hour, the pacy Ojiyovwi came close again, and before the interval, Oscar and Akekoromowei had both come close to increasing Nigeria’s advantage.

In the second period, Esther Inyang saw her lift from Oscar’s dashing run rise a little too high in the 59th minute, but a minute later, Nigeria went 3-0 up when Akekoromowei sliced a perfect grounder past Belise.

Ojiyovwi thought she had scored a fourth for Nigeria in the 65th minute, but her effort was ruled offside. In the 90th minute, the fourth goal eventually came, as substitute Alaba Olabiyi, who scored the lone goal in Kigali on Sunday, diverted the ball into the net off a shot by Taiwo Afolabi.

Elsewhere, the Golden Eaglets and Baby Stallions of Burkina Faso settled for a goalless draw in their last game in group B, played at Stade Lycee Scientifique on Saturday evening.

Nigeria piled pressure on the Burkinabes from the first blast of the referee’s whistle. Still, their opponents were very resolute in the defence, while depending on occasional counter-attacks, which were equally thwarted by the Eaglets, leading to the game remaining scoreless at the end of 90 minutes.

Nigeria's Boluwatife Thompson, who tormented the defence of Burkina Faso with his dribbling runs and high football intelligence was awarded the Man -of- the- Match. With this result, the Eaglets will face the Black Starlets of Ghana in the second semi-final of the tournament, slated for Stade Charles Konan Banny on Tuesday, starting at 8 pm Nigeria time.