Nigeria U20 girls picked up the qualifying ticket for 2024 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia.
The Falconets, earned their place at this year’s upcoming FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals thanks to a goal by Opeyemi Ajakaye which eventually brought down highly spirited Burundi in Abuja.
Nigeria’s U20 girls, Falconets, have earned a place at this year’s FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals after a goal by Opeyemi Ajakaye eventually brought down hard-fighting Burundi in a final round, second leg encounter at the MKO Abiola National Stadium on Saturday evening.
It ended on a 2-0 aggregate victory for Nigeria in the final round of the qualifying phase.
The Falconets had won the first leg 1-0 in Dar es Salaam earlier, about a week ago.
It was a similar scenario as in the first leg in Dar es Salaam, Falconets created many opportunities but couldn’t utilize their chances.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 78th minute by Opeyemi Ajakaye, who utilized an assist by Akekoromowei. She later found the back of the net in the 90th minute, but was eventually ruled out. The result put the Falconets through to the final tournament in Colombia later this year
Nigeria has always been an ever-present at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, since it’s inception as an U19 tournament in Canada 22 years ago.
The Falconets finished as runners-up in 2010 and 2014, and also reached the semi-finals in Japan in 2012.
They will have another opportunity to try their luck and aim for the trophy this time out in Colombia.