Nigeria’s U20 women’s national team, the Falconets, secured a 2-1 victory over Australia in a friendly match held in Colombia on Friday, as they prepare for the 2024 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.
The match was a part of the Falconets’ warm-up games arranged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to help the team acclimatize and fine-tune their strategies ahead of the tournament.
After the friendly, the Australian team officials requested a penalty shootout practice, which the Falconets also won, edging out Australia 4-3 in the shootout.
An NFF official present at the match praised the team’s performance, stating, “The team is in high spirits. As I speak with you, we (Falconets) just defeated Australia 2-1 in their first friendly match. And also beat them 5-4 in a penalty shootout challenge. They played well and deserved the victory.”
READ MORE: Falconets in Colombia for a two-week training camp ahead of the U-20 Women’s World Cup
The Falconets are drawn in Group D for the World Cup, alongside Germany, Venezuela, and Korea Republic. The NFF has arranged additional friendly matches for the team as part of their final preparations before their first group match against Korea Republic on Monday, September 2nd.
Following their opener against Korea Republic, the Falconets will face Germany on Wednesday, September 4th, before concluding the group stage with a match against Venezuela.
The 2024 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup will be hosted by Colombia from August 31 to September 22, 2024. This will be the third time Colombia has hosted a FIFA tournament and the first time it has hosted a FIFA women’s tournament. Spain enters the competition as the defending champions.
