WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Surprise winners, shock losers in 32-team World Cup group stage
After Jamaica clinched a spot in the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup at the expense of soccer giants Brazil on Wednesday, one reporter suggested it made the Reggae Girlz the “Cinderella team” of the tournament.
Jamaica coach Lorne Donaldson, who rolled around the Melbourne pitch in celebration of the scoreless draw that secured their passage to the knockout rounds for the first time, was not certain how suitable the analogy was.
“Cinderella wears a pretty dress, so I don’t know,” he laughed.
“We’re going to take it one game at a time. If we can wear a pretty dress, we’ll put it on.”
There were plenty of other fairytales in the first two weeks of the tournament with Morocco, South Africa, Norway and co-hosts Australia the big group-stage winners.
The losers? Germany, Brazil, Canada, the other co-hosts New Zealand, and China.
Morocco were expected to make an early exit as the 72nd-ranked team, but bounced back from a 6-0 defeat in their opener to become the lowest ranked side ever to make the knockout round with their 1-0 win over Colombia in Perth.
They still needed South Korea to prevent a Germany win in Thursday’s other group match and had a few nervous moments while waiting for the final whistle in Brisbane.
“We were praying, waiting for the result to come out of the Germany and Korea game,” said midfielder Anissa Lahmari. “It was a draw and afterwards it was a complete explosion of joy.”
The stunning upsets sent twice German champions packing in their first exit from the group stage in nine editions of the World Cup.
Jamaican joy on Wednesday also meant despair for Brazil, who exited from the group stage for the first time since 1995, following Canada’s premature exit at the hands of co-hosts Australia on Monday.
That left the tournament without two of the game’s greatest players with Brazil striker Marta and Canada’s talisman captain Christine Sinclair, who both bowed out of their sixth World Cups in the worst possible way.
SHOT IN THE ARM
Australia’s chances were on a razor’s edge before they crushed Canada 4-0 without needing injured forward Sam Kerr, their leading scorer. Their advancement was a huge shot in the arm for the tournament after the loss of New Zealand.
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said in a post-match interview that he cried “tears of joy” after the match.
Their courageous win made Canada the first reigning Olympic champions to get knocked out in the group stage and the image of shell-shocked keeper Kailen Sheridan in tears before the final whistle captured Canada’s collective heartache.
Revived Norway were a big group stage winner, brushing off a turbulent two weeks to squeeze into the knockout rounds on goal difference over New Zealand.
Winger Caroline Graham Hansen had apologised earlier in the tournament for an angry outburst in a TV interview after coach Hege Riise dropped her to the bench.
Norway’s advancement sealed New Zealand’s fate, despite the Football Ferns having edged the Norwegians 1-0 for their first win at a World Cup at the tournament’s opening match.
The game itself was a big winner in the island nation of five million people, with 42,958 fans squeezing into Auckland’s historic Eden Park for Portugal versus the U.S., the largest crowd for a soccer match in New Zealand.
Defending champions the United States did not lose a game in the group stage but scraping through to the knockout rounds in second place with a nervy 0-0 draw against debutants Portugal was hardly a “win” for a team used to dominating.
South Africa are not used to dominating outside their own continent and the nation erupted in celebration after the Banyana Banyana knocked out Italy, quarter-finalists four years ago, to progress with their first ever World Cup win.
“You have lifted our spirits and made us immensely proud,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter. “Bring the cup home!”
China’s Steel Roses, once titans of women’s soccer with silver medals from the 1996 Olympics and 1999 World Cup, were shock losers in the group stage, bowing out in a 6-1 thumping by England.
Shui Qingxia, who coached the team to the Asian title last year, vowed China would regain its status after clearly falling behind the likes of England.
“We can see there’s a huge gap between us and the European teams,” Shui said.
“We are not going to see this gap and do nothing, but rather we will do things like transition and balance and physicality.”
-Reuters
Nigeria’s Falconets will discover their opponents for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup when the official draw is conducted in Łódź, Poland, on May 15, as preparations intensify for another campaign on the global stage.
The draw ceremony, confirmed by football’s world governing body, FIFA, will take place in one of the tournament’s host cities and will be broadcast live worldwide on FIFA+, YouTube and TikTok.
Nigeria, one of the most successful nations in the history of the competition, heads into the draw with renewed ambition after securing qualification for the tournament, which will run from September 5 to 27 across the Polish cities of Bielsko-Biała, Katowice, Łódź and Sosnowiec.
The Falconets remain one of Africa’s strongest representatives at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, having reached the final twice in the competition’s history. The Nigerian side will now await the outcome of the draw to know their group-stage opponents among the 24 qualified teams expected to battle for the title.
Former Polish international and current women’s national team coach Nina Patalon and French football legend Laura Georges will participate in the ceremony, underscoring the growing profile of women’s football globally.
Speaking ahead of the event, Patalon described the draw as a defining moment for both participating teams and supporters.
“The draw always brings a special sense of excitement, as it is the moment when the competition truly starts to feel real for both the teams and the fans,” she said.
She also highlighted the importance of hosting the tournament in Poland, noting that it could inspire more young girls to embrace football and further accelerate the development of the women’s game in the country.
The 12th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup is expected to showcase some of the brightest emerging talents in women’s football, with Nigeria’s Falconets aiming to make another strong impression on the world stage
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Alongside the USA and Brazil, Nigeria will head to Poland as one of only three nations to have appeared at every edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
As of Saturday night, only Nigeria and Nigeria women’s national under-20 football team and Ghana women’s national under-20 football team have secured qualification for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland after overcoming Malawi and Uganda, respectively, in the final round of African qualifiers.
Nigeria maintained their remarkable record of appearing at every edition of the global tournament, joining the United States and Brazil as the only nations to achieve the feat.
The Falconets were pushed to the limit by Malawi in Lilongwe after carrying a 2-0 advantage from the first leg in Ikenne. Malawi made a dream start when Faith Chinzimu scored from a set-piece in the eighth minute to ignite hopes of a comeback.
Nigeria struggled to reproduce the dominance they displayed at home, and the tie swung dramatically in the hosts’ favour in the 57th minute when Chinzimu completed her brace after breaking down the left flank before calmly finishing past the Nigerian goalkeeper.
At 2-0 on the day, the aggregate score was level, and the Falconets were suddenly under severe pressure. However, Malawi captain Leticia Chinyamula made a costly error that allowed substitute Oscar Precious to seize possession, drive into the penalty area and fire home the decisive goal for Nigeria.
The strike restored Nigeria’s aggregate lead and effectively ended Malawi’s hopes, as the Falconets held on to secure passage to Poland despite the 2-1 defeat on the day.
Coach Moses Aduku’s side will now prepare for another appearance at the world finals, where Nigeria remain one of the competition’s most consistent teams.
Ghana also survived a tense encounter to qualify for their eighth consecutive FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
The Black Princesses travelled to Kampala holding a narrow 2-1 first-leg advantage over Uganda. Still, the hosts drew level on aggregate through a moment of brilliance from Sylvia Kabene, whose powerful strike from the left wing flew into the top corner beyond goalkeeper Belinda Maku.
Combined with Agnes Nabukenya’s away goal in the first leg, Uganda briefly looked set to progress.
But Ghana responded strongly after the break despite being reduced to 10 players. Captain Linda Owusu Ansah proved the hero, curling a superb set-piece from near the corner flag directly into the far top corner to send the Black Princesses through.
While Nigeria will continue their ever-present run at the tournament, Ghana will be hoping to advance beyond the group stage for the first time in their history when the competition kicks off in September.
The remaining African qualification spots will be decided on Sunday when Tanzania face Cameroon, and Benin take on Côte d’Ivoire in the final return-leg matches.
The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Poland 2026 will take place from September 5 to 27 across four host cities
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Nigeria’s U-20 girls, the Falconets, are on the verge of extending their remarkable record of appearing at every edition of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup since the competition began in 2002.
The Falconets will face Malawi on Saturday at the Bingu National Stadium in the second leg of the final qualifying round for the Poland 2026 tournament, carrying a 2-0 advantage from the first leg played in Ikenne-Remo last weekend.
Nigeria have featured at every edition of the competition, beginning with the inaugural tournament in Canada in 2002 when it was still a U-19 championship. The Falconets also competed in Thailand 2004 before the tournament was upgraded to the U-20 level ahead of the 2006 finals in Russia.
Since then, the Nigerian girls have remained ever-present at the global championship, appearing in Chile 2008, Germany 2010, Japan 2012, Canada 2014, Papua New Guinea 2016, France 2018, Costa Rica 2022 and Colombia 2024.
The Falconets’ best performances came when they finished runners-up at Germany 2010 and Canada 2014, while they reached the semi-finals in Japan 2012.
Head coach Moses Aduku expressed confidence ahead of Saturday’s decisive clash.
“We are here to play and to win. The players understand the importance of this match, and we are fully prepared mentally, tactically, and physically for the challenge ahead,” Aduku said during Friday’s pre-match press conference.
Nigeria swept past Rwanda and Senegal in earlier qualifying rounds and are now aiming to complete the job against Malawi to seal another World Cup appearance.
Kick-off for Saturday’s encounter is scheduled for 3:00 pm Malawi time (2:00 pm Nigeria time).
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