Nigeria and Ghana women’s football have booked their spot at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland. The Falconets qualified despite a 2-1 loss away at Malawi on Saturday.
The young Nigerian women saw their 2-0 first leg lead disappear after conceding through a brace from Faith Chinzimu. Chinzimu a set-piece in the eighth minute before completing the brace racing clear down the left flank and calmly finishing past the goalkeeper in the 57th minute.
However, the Falconets came back into the game after Oscar Precious took advantage of a mistake by Malawi captain Leticia Chinyamula to pull one back and qualify for the mundial on a 3-2 aggregate.
In Kampala, Ghana also endured a tense encounter which ended in a 1-1 draw. The Black Princesses went into the game with a 2-1 advantage in the first leg. However, the hosts scored the opener in the second leg from Sylvia Kabene’s brilliant shot, putting the Queen Cranes on course for qualification.
But Ghana responded with an equalizer in the second half, despite being reduced to 10 players. Captain Linda Owusu Ansah stepped up and scored a set-piece from a corner kick to send the Black Princesses through to the finals in Poland.
Nigeria now becomes one of three nations to have appeared at every edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. The other two are USA and Brazil. Ghana will also compete at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup for the eighth edition in a row,
Meanwhile, the CAF U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers will be concluded on Sunday, as Tanzania take on Cameroon, while Benin face Côte d’Ivoire. Winners will complete the list of 24 teams that will compete in Poland from 5 to 27 September.
