Nigeria’s Falconets head coach, Moses Aduku, has revealed that England’s Young Lionesses suffered a 3-0 defeat because they underestimated the Nigerian side. The Falconets secured a commanding victory at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland, thanks to goals from Tosin Rafiu, Janet Akekoromowei, and Mercy Mamudu. Rafiu opened the scoring before Akekoromowei doubled Nigeria’s advantage.
Mamudu then capped off the impressive performance to seal the 3-0 win, keeping the team’s title ambitions firmly alive. Speaking to FIFA.com after the match, Aduku noted that the English squad paid the price for failing to gauge the Falconets’ true capabilities. “The English team is a very good side, and I think they underrated us; they never believed that we could play up to this level,” Aduku said.
“But I said after the group stage that the World Cup is just starting.” Despite the emphatic nature of the win, the coach was quick to shift focus toward the next challenge, urging his players to stay grounded. “[After the game] I told the players, this game is gone.
Let’s have a short celebration because we have the next game to play, so let’s focus on the next one.” Nigeria, two-time runners-up at the U-20 Women’s World Cup, will now face the winner of the Poland-Colombia Round of 16 tie in Lodz on Sunday for a place in the semi-finals.