Falconets Make History With 10-1 Win Over New Caledonia

Nigeria’s Falconets secured a place in the Round of 16 at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup after recording their biggest victory in the tournament’s history.

The Nigerian side demolished debutants New Caledonia 10-1 on Sunday at Stadion Miejski ŁKS in Łódź to finish second in Group F.

The victory lifted Moses Aduku’s team to four points, behind group winners Spain.

Nigeria entered the decisive encounter under pressure after collecting just one point from their opening two matches.

The Falconets lost 2-0 to Spain in their opener before settling for a goalless draw with China PR.

They therefore needed a win against New Caledonia to keep their knockout-stage hopes alive.

The players responded with an explosive attacking performance, scoring four times before the break and adding six more goals after half-time.

Ramotalahi Kareem started the rout from the penalty spot in the 17th minute.

Rebecca Adegbemile doubled the advantage two minutes later before Janet Seimeyeha Akekoromowei made it 3-0 in the 23rd minute.

Kareem struck again four minutes later to complete a remarkable first-half display and give Nigeria a 4-0 lead.

The onslaught continued after the restart as Winner Onajite David increased the advantage in the 60th minute.

Kareem completed her hat-trick four minutes later before Tosin Rafiu added Nigeria’s seventh goal in the 70th minute.

Adegbemile then scored her second goal in the 74th minute.

David followed a minute later to make it 9-0 and put the result beyond doubt.

New Caledonia eventually found a consolation goal through Joceline Kourevi in the 89th minute.

However, David completed her own hat-trick in stoppage time to seal the historic 10-1 victory.

Kareem and David finished the match with three goals each, while Adegbemile contributed two.

The result represents a remarkable turnaround for Nigeria, who failed to score in either of their first two group matches.

It also gave the Falconets the result they needed to advance, although their qualification hopes had depended partly on the outcome of the Spain-China match.

New Caledonia, meanwhile, endured a difficult debut at the tournament.

The newcomers lost 5-0 to China before suffering an 11-0 defeat against Spain.

Their heavy loss to Nigeria took their goals conceded to 26 in three group matches.

They scored only once throughout the campaign, with Kourevi’s late strike against Nigeria providing their sole goal.

For the Falconets, the emphatic victory provides renewed momentum heading into the knockout stage.

Nigeria will now face the Round of 16 with confidence after finally producing the attacking display that had eluded them in their opening two games.

The challenge will be to maintain that momentum as the tournament enters its decisive stage.