WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Falconets, Flamingos draw Super Eagles’ World Cup qualifying opponents in Women’s World Cup Qualifiers
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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Despite wintry conditions in Blida, on the outskirts of the Algerian capital, Algiers, Nigeria’s U17 girls dug their feet into the ground on Friday night.
They achieved a scoreless draw that qualified them for this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals.
Holding on to a 4-0 first-leg advantage, the 2002 bronze medallists adopted a calm and collected pattern that easily soaked up the expected pressure from the hosts and then relied on fast breaks to try and pull the trigger on their opponents.
Although they created better chances on the night, the Flamingos failed to make dominance in possession pay, but swiftly collected the ticket to Morocco on a 4-0 aggregate win.
The difference over two legs of the final round was a remarkable display in the opening leg by the Flamingos, during which a brace by Queen Joseph and one each by Zainab Raji and substitute Aisha Animashaun ensured a 4-0 win.
The Flamingos will now be one of Africa’s five representatives (including hosts Morocco) at this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals taking place from 17th October – 5th November. The final competition will entertain 24 teams for the very first time.
Since the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup competition was launched in New Zealand in 2008, Nigeria have failed to make the finals only once – the 2018 tournament hosted by Uruguay.
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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Despite heavy first leg loss, Algeria hopeful of a turnaround in Nigeria’s Flamingos clash
The Algeria U17 women’s national team still hope for a possible turnaround in this Friday night clash with Nigeria’s Flamingos.
Algeria lost 4-0 in the first leg match in Ikenne last Saturday.
The Algerians completed their preparations on Thursday at the Sidi Moussa National Technical Centre, the eve of the return match against Nigeria.
The return match is scheduled for this Friday at 8 p.m. at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida. Aggregate winners will pick a ticket to the FIFA U-17 Women’s 2025 World Cup.
According to sources in Algeria, all the players took part in the final session, during which coach Abdenour Mira finalised the tactical details for the make or mar encounter.
Despite the heavy defeat conceded in the first leg (4-0), the young Algerians approach this match with the desire to finish well and deliver an honourable performance against a formidable Nigerian team.
During the technical meeting held early in the afternoon at the FAF headquarters, in the presence of representatives of the two teams and the organisers, it was decided that Algeria will play in green, while Nigeria will wear white.
The match will be officiated by Cameroonian Aline Marie Noelle Guimbang, assisted by her compatriot Laurie Marcelle Tsafack Teikeu and Chadian Victorine Ngarassoum.
The fourth official will also be Cameroonian, Innoncentia Njang Ntangti.
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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Under possible cold weather in Blida, Nigeria’s Flamingos set to grab World Cup ticket
The weather is most likely to be cold, but Nigeria’s U17 girls, Flamingos, are set to continue a tradition of qualifying for every edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, which has had eight editions, out of which the Flamingos featured in seven.
Only Japan, with 100 per cent attendance, has featured in more competitions than Nigeria’s Flamingos.
They look poised to feature again after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria in the first leg of the final qualifying series.
Apart from their opponents, Algeria, they have the expected cold weather to battle with at the Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida (outside Algiers), on Friday night.
Friday’s encounter against their Algerian counterparts is the final leg of a final qualifying round fixture, with the Flamingos, bronze-medallists from the 2022 finals in India and quarterfinalists from the last edition in the Dominican Republic, holding on to a 4-0 first-leg advantage.
The Federation Algerienne de Football (FAF) has scheduled the match to kick off at 8 pm, at a time when the winds will begin to blow in stronger from the Mediterranean Sea.
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