Nigeria’s Falconets were beaten 2-0 by Spain in their opening Group F match at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, leaving head coach Moses Aduku admitting that his side failed to turn up for the encounter.
The 2022 champions made a strong start to their campaign against the seven-time African champions, with Nigeria struggling to impose themselves as Spain controlled the contest and eventually secured all three points.
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Spain broke the deadlock through forward Marisa Garcia, who finished after clever work from Noe Bejarano opened up the Nigerian defence.
The Falconets then faced an even tougher task in the second half when Spain introduced Alba Cerrato from the bench.
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Cerrato needed just seven minutes to make an impact, producing a neat left-footed strike to double Spain’s advantage and effectively put the game beyond Nigeria’s reach.
The goal was another notable moment for Cerrato, who was part of the Spain side that finished runners-up at the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic.
Nigeria struggled to create clear-cut opportunities throughout the encounter, with their best chance arriving seven minutes from full time.
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Precious Oscar found herself with an opportunity from 10 yards but saw her effort narrowly miss the target as the Falconets were unable to find a way back into the game.
Spain coach David Aznar praised his players for overcoming what he expected to be a physically demanding Nigerian side.
“We are very pleased. Winning the first match at a tournament of this level is always positive because it means that your destiny remains in your own hands going into the following games. It was a very difficult match. We knew Nigeria would make things extremely difficult for us because they have tremendous physical potential, and we knew it was going to be demanding. I think we made an enormous effort and deserved to win.”
For Nigeria, Aduku speaking to FIFA media, did not hide his disappointment with his team’s performance, but insisted that the defeat would not derail their campaign.
“We did not come to the party today, we did not play. But all the same we have two more games to play, we will get it right. Of course, we are going to go through [to the knockout rounds]. I am confident. We did not play today.”
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“Although my girls tried their best but, that’s football. We’ll get it right the next game.”
The result leaves the Falconets with work to do in their remaining Group F fixtures, but Aduku remains confident that Nigeria can recover and progress to the knockout stages.
The Nigerian side will now have to respond strongly in their next two group matches against China and New Caledonia, with the coach insisting that the team can still get their campaign back on track.
For the Falconets, the challenge is now to put the disappointing performance against Spain behind them and deliver the response Aduku believes they are capable of producing.
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