Falconets ready for England after N’Caledonia thrashing - Punch Newspapers
One of Nigeria’s hat-trick heroes and Player of the Match in the Falconets’ 10-1 thrashing of New Caledonia, Ramotalahi Kareem, says the team are ready to face England after advancing to the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland on Sunday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. After earning just one point from their first two games, the Falconets responded in emphatic fashion on Sunday afternoon with a 10-1 victory over New Caledonia in their final Group F match. Kareem and Tosin Rafiu were instrumental as Nigeria scored 10 goals to reach the knockout phase of the competition as Group F runners-up. Spain won the group in perfect fashion after beating China 3-1, although the Asians sneaked through as one of the best third-placed teams and will now face Italy in the Round of 16. Moses Aduku’s Falconets dominated from the outset and took the lead when Rafiu weaved her way past three opponents to win a penalty, which Kareem calmly converted. Headers from Rebecca Adegbemile and Janet Akekoromowei extended Nigeria’s advantage before Kareem added a fourth following another excellent move involving Rafiu. Nigeria thrash New Caledonia 10-1, reach U-20 World Cup knockouts Aduku says Falconets ready to conquer Goal-hungry New Caledonia coach eyes Falconets scalp After the restart, Kareem completed her hat-trick before Onajite David also bagged a treble of her own. Adegbemile completed her brace, while Rafiu scored a stunning effort from outside the box. New Caledonia, however, had a consolation goal through Kourevi, who scored her first goal of the finals with a superb long-range strike. “We hope to achieve great things now that we’ve got through the group stage. I’m really pleased with my hat-trick. My job is to score goals and helping the team today made me happy. We’re ready for the match against England. We’ll prepare as well as we possibly can for the Round of 16 against a strong side,” she said after the game. Nigeria finished the group stage with four points from three matches, having previously lost 2-0 to Spain and drawn 0-0 with China PR. The emphatic victory significantly improved the Falconets’ goal difference and secured their second-place finish in Group F. The Falconets will tackle Group E winners England in the Round of 16 on Thursday. Abiodun Adewale Abiodun, who reports Sports for PUNCH, covers different tiers of the Nigerian football league, the national teams, as well as cricket, in the last six years
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