The Nigeria U20 women’s team began their search for a maiden FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup title with a hard-fought 1-0 win over South Korea, courtesy of an 86th-minute strike by Flourish Sabastine, at the Estadio Metropolitano de Techo, Bogota, and will go into the game against three-time champions Germany with more confidence.

The Falconets face the German Machines today, September 4, 2024, by 23:00hrs at the Estadio Metropolitano de Techo, Bogota, the same turf where they were victorious on, three days ago.

The girls have since 2012 been dominant over the South Koreans, as Nigeria made it four victories from four meetings with Korea Republic at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, having won 2-0 in 2012, 2-1 in 2014 and 1-0 in 2022.

Their next opponent Germany, unlike South Korea, leaves a bitter taste in their mouth, when looked back on. Germany was on two occasions, the stumbling block to Nigeria’s World Cup triumph. Despite qualifying for every edition of the competition, since its inception in 2002, the Falconets are yet to get a hand of the coveted trophy, having been runners-up twice, losing to Germany on both occasions, in 2010 and 2014.

In this year’s event, Germany are challengers in the early stages and Christopher Danjuma’s men would look to pass the German test in a bid to advance from the group stages. Germany has only lost two of their previous 20 group-stage matches. Germany defeated Venezuela 5-2 in their opening match, showcasing their attacking prowess.

Nigeria’s last outing in 2022 saw them exit in the quarterfinal.