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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Falconets, Flamingos draw Super Eagles’ World Cup qualifying opponents in Women’s World Cup Qualifiers

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Nigeria’s age-grade women’s national teams have been drawn to face countries that the Men’s national team, the Super Eagles are facing in the quest for World Cup qualifications.

 The Super Eagles still have World Cup qualifying matches with South Africa, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, the three teams that the U-17 women’s side, Flamingos and the U-20 team Falconets will respectively face in the qualifying for the age-grade Women’s World Cup.

In the draw made in Cairo, Egypt on Thursday, the Flamingos will begin their journey from the second round where they will face the winners of the first-round match of Gabon and South Africa.

In the U-20 category, the Nigeria Falconets also advance to the second round, awaiting the winners of the Rwanda/Zimbabwe first-round clash.

For the U-17 World Cup qualifying series in which four teams are expected to qualify, there are 28 entries.

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The four successful teams in the qualifiers will join Morocco, hosts, at the global showpiece set to take place between 17 October – 08 November 2025 in Morocco. 

The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will for the first time be contested by 24 nations following its expansion from 16 teams. 

The African qualifiers will be played over three knockout rounds of home and away to determine the qualified nations. 

The first leg round of qualifiers will be played between 10 – 12 January 2025 for the first round ahead of the first leg return fixtures between 17 – 19 January. 

The second round of qualifiers which will have been narrowed down to 16 nations will take place between 07 – 09 March ahead of the return fixtures set to take place between 14 – 16 March 2025. 

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The qualifiers officially conclude in April 2025 when the third and final rounds take place for the eight remaining nations. 

The third round first legs will take place between 18 – 20 April, with the final round of qualifiers to determine the qualified nations to be decided between 25 – 27 April 2025.  


FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers Draw Results:

ROUND 1:

  • M1, 2: Namibia vs Uganda
  • M3, 4: Egypt vs Cameroon
  • M5, 6: Zimbabwe vs Ethiopia
  • M7, 8: Eswatini vs Tanzania
  • M9, 10: Congo vs Benin
  • M11, 12: DR Congo vs Niger
  • M13, 14: Gabon vs South Africa
  • M15, 16: Equatorial Guinea vs Botswana
  • M17, 18: Tunisia vs Algeria
  • M19, 20: Cote d’Ivoire vs Senegal
  • M21, 22: Sierra Leone vs Central Africa Republic
  • M23, 24: Togo vs Guinea 

ROUND 2:

  • M25, 26: Namibia x Uganda vs Kenya
  • M27, 28: Egypt X Cameroon vs Zimbabwe x Ethiopia
  • M29, 30: Eswatini x Tanzania vs Zambia
  • M31, 32: Congo x Benin vs DR Congo x Niger
  • M33, 34: Gabon x South Africa vs Nigeria
  • M35, 36: Equatorial Guinea x Botswana vs Tunisia x Algeria
  • M37, 38: Cote d’Ivoire x Senegal vs Burundi
  • M39, 40: Sierra Leone x Central Africa Republic vs Togo x Guinea 

ROUND 3

  • M41, 42: Winner 25, 26 vs Winner 27, 28
  • M43, 44: Winner 29, 30 vs Winner 31, 32
  • M45, 46: Winner 33, 34 vs Winner 35, 36
  • M47, 48: Winner 37, 38 vs Winner 39, 40 

 In the U-20 Women’s World Cup African qualifiers draw, the tournament, scheduled for August 2026, will feature 24 nations, including four representatives from Africa.

A total of 38 African teams are vying for the four coveted slots, with the qualifiers set to unfold over four knockout rounds of home-and-away fixtures.

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The first round will be contested by the 12 lowest-ranked teams, based on previous U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers performance.

The six winners will advance to join the 26 top-ranked teams exempted from the first round.

The six first-round winners and 26 exempted teams will form 32 teams. These will battle it out for 16 spots in the third round.

The remaining 16 teams in the third round will compete in a knockout format to determine the eight teams advancing to the fourth round which will comprise of eight teams.

 The final eight teams will play knockout ties, with the winners earning qualification to the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

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FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup African Qualifiers Draw Results

First Round

  • M1, 2: Gabon vs Niger
  • M3, 4: Togo vs Tunisia
  • M5, 6: Gambia vs Côte d’Ivoire
  • M7, 8: Rwanda vs Zimbabwe
  • M9, 10: South Sudan vs Djibouti
  • M11, 12: Malawi vs Central African Republic

Second Round

  • M13, 14: Gabon/Niger vs Cameroon
  • M15, 16: Botswana vs Mozambique
  • M17, 18: Ethiopia vs Kenya
  • M19, 20: Tanzania vs Angola
  • M21, 22: Togo/Tunisia vs Ghana
  • M23, 24: Eswatini vs South Africa
  • M25, 26: Uganda vs Namibia
  • M27, 28: Burundi vs Zambia
  • M29, 30: Gambia/Côte d’Ivoire vs Morocco
  • M31, 32: Mali vs DR Congo
  • M33, 34: Equatorial Guinea vs Egypt
  • M35, 36: Benin vs Guinea
  • M37, 38: Rwanda/Zimbabwe vs Nigeria
  • M39, 40: Senegal vs Algeria
  • M41, 42: Guinea-Bissau vs Congo
  • M43, 44: South Sudan/Djibouti vs Malawi/Central African Republic

Third Round Fixtures

  • M45, 46: Winner M13, M14 vs Winner M15, M16
  • M47, 48: Winner M17, M18 vs Winner M19, M20
  • M49, 50: Winner M21, M22 vs Winner M23, M24
  • M51, 52: Winner M25, M26 vs Winner M27, M28
  • M53, 54: Winner M29, M30 vs Winner M31, M32
  • M55, 56: Winner M33, M34 vs Winner M35, M36
  • M57, 58: Winner M37, M38 vs Winner M39, M40
  • M59, 60: Winner M41, M42 vs Winner M43, M44

Fourth Round Fixtures

  • M61, 62: Winner M45, M46 vs Winner M47, M48
  • M63, 64: Winner M49, M50 vs Winner M51, M52
  • M65, 66: Winner M53, M54 vs Winner M55, M56
  • M67, 68: Winner M57, M58 vs Winner M59, M60

Round-by-Round Timeline

  • First Round Matches: First leg: 9–11 May 2025 | Second leg: 16–18 May 2025.
  • Second Round Matches: First leg: 19–21 September 2025 | Second leg: 26–28 September 2025.
  • Third Round Matches: First leg: 6–8 February 2026 | Second leg: 12–14 February 2026.
  • Fourth Round Matches: First leg: 1–3 May 2026 | Second leg: 8–10 May 2026.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Super Falconets, others to know FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament’s opponents on Thursday

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The path to the next FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will be charted on Thursday in Cairo for the 38 African teams. Four of them will eventually make it to the final competition.

The draw for the qualifying series will take place at 14h30 Cairo Time (12h30 GMT) after the draw for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers Draw is conducted at 14h00 (12h00GMT) 

The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026 will be contested by 24 nations, including four representatives from Africa.

The 2024 edition – held in Colombia saw Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria flying the African flag.  Nigeria concluded their campaign in the Round of 16, while Cameroon and Ghana finished at the group stage. 

Below are the nations to be engaged in the draw: 

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Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo, DRC, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Women’s World Cup 2027 to kick off on June 24

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The 2027 edition of the Women’s World Cup for soccer will take place in Brazil between June 24 and July 25, global governing body FIFA said on Tuesday.

The 32-team tournament, the first edition of the women’s world championship to be held in South America, will follow the same slot allocation for confederations as the 2023 editions, with 11 teams from European body UEFA qualifying directly.

Asia’s AFC will have six direct slots, and Africa’s CAF and North America’s CONCACAF four each, while South America’s CONMEBOL will have three and Oceania’s OFC will have one.

The three remaining slots will be determined through a 10-team playoff tournament, played in two phases between November 2026 and February 2027.

Brazil, who won the hosting rights in May, will stage the tournament at between 10 and 12 venues, many of which were used during the 2014 men’s World Cup.

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“This historic tournament will have a massive impact not only in South America, but around the whole world,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

FIFA is also set to confirm the hosts of the 2030 and 2034 men’s World Cups on Wednesday, with the former going to a three-continent, six-nation bid led by Morocco, Spain and Portugal, and the latter going to Saudi Arabia.

-Reuters

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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

Super Falcons jet into France for big game

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The Falcons sweating it out in one of the training sessions before the clash with Algeria

Players and officials of nine-time African champions Nigeria have started arriving in the city of Angers, France from Wednesday morning, ahead of Saturday’s much-anticipated international friendly game between the Super Falcons and the Les Bleues.

It is the second time both teams will engage in a friendly encounter – the first being a forgettable experience for the Falcons as they lost by eight goals in freezing weather inside Le Mans’ Stade Marie-Marvingt on 6th April 2018.

Only goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, who plays her club football in France, and Mexico- based defender Osinachi Ohale, remain from that squad that was undone by, among other things, a hat-trick from Valérie Gauvin and an own goal by defender Faith Ikidi-Michael. The defeat equalled the Falcons’ biggest-ever defeats – by Norway at the 1995 FIFA World Cup finals in Sweden and by Germany in a friendly in Leverkusen’s Bay Arena on 25th November 2010.

However, clashes at the FIFA World Cup finals have been much closer, with the Falcons losing by the odd goal against the Les Bleues in Germany in 2011, and by the same margin at the Roazhon Park when both sides clashed at the 2019 finals hosted by France.

The consummation of Saturday’s encounter is further confirmation of the Ibrahim Musa Gusau-led administration’s commitment to fully blood a new Super Falcons’ squad, by implementing a process of exposure and experience-garnering for the new squad, following an under-par outing at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in France this summer.

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The big game with the Les Bleues comes up only five weeks after the first of two friendly matches with Algeria’s Green Ladies in Nigeria (2-0 and 4-1 wins), and eight days after the Super Falcons learnt they would be playing Tunisia, Algeria and Botswana in the group phase at the 13th Women AFCON in Morocco next summer.

Saturday’s match will commence at 9.30pm France time, same time as in Nigeria.

SUPER FALCONS FOR LES BLEUES CHALLENGE:

Goalkeepers: Chiamaka Nnadozie (Paris FC, France); Anderline Mgbechi (Rivers Angels); Rachael Unachukwu (Nasarawa Amazons)

Defenders: Osinachi Ohale (Pachucha Club de Futbol, Mexico); Michelle Alozie (Houston Dash, USA); Ashleigh Plumptre (Ittihad Ladies, Saudi Arabia); Rofiat Imuran (London City Lioness, England); Sikiratu Isah (Nasarawa Amazons); Oluwatosin Demehin (Galatasaray Sportive, Turkey)

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Midfielders: Jennifer Echegini (Paris Saint Germain, France); Toni Payne (Everton Ladies, England); Josephine Mathias (Nasarawa Amazons); Christy Ucheibe (SL Benfica, Portugal); Shukurat Oladipo (FC Robo Queens); Adoo Yina (Nasarawa Amazons)

Forwards: Blessing Nkor (Pyramids FC, Egypt); Gift Monday (Coasta Adeje Tenerife Egatesa (Spain); Ifeoma Onumonu (Montpellier FC, France); Omorinsola Babajide (Coasta Adeje Tenerife Egatesa (Spain); Mercy Omokwo (Bayelsa Queens)

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