By Emeka Dennar
Nigeria’s U20 Women’s National Team, the Falconets, have settled into their training camp in Trzebnica, Poland, and have begun intensive preparations for the 2026 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.
The two-time FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup runners-up held their first training session on Wednesday at the Stadion Miejski, Fair Play Arena, with players and officials showing great commitment, energy and determination.
After arriving in Poland on Tuesday, the Falconets quickly returned to work, focusing on tactical organisation, technical improvement, physical fitness and team bonding as they build towards the tournament.
As part of their final preparations, the team will play two international friendly matches. They will face hosts Poland on August 28 before taking on South Korea on September 1. The matches are expected to help the players adjust further to conditions in Poland, gain valuable match experience, test themselves against different playing styles and sharpen their tactical approach ahead of the World Cup.
The friendly against Poland will be played at the Municipal Stadium in Brzeg and will kick off at 12 noon local time on Friday. The match against South Korea is scheduled for the Remes Resort & Spa Football Stadium and will begin at 4 p.m. local time.
The games will also give the coaching staff an opportunity to assess the team’s readiness and make any necessary adjustments before the tournament, while helping the players adapt to the demands and intensity of international football.
Meanwhile, captain Joy Igbokwe and defender Faridat Abdulwahab will miss the tournament after they were not granted visas. They have been replaced in the squad by Vivian Kachi and Alaba Olabiyi.
Head coach Moses Aduku and his technical crew have continued to demand full commitment from the players as the team fine-tunes its preparations for the global showpiece.
Nigeria are in Group F alongside Spain, China and New Caledonia. The Falconets will face Spain on September 7, China on September 10 and New Caledonia on September 13.
The team will remain in Trzebnica in the coming days, with preparations set to intensify as they aim to make a strong impact at the tournament.
Having finished as runners-up in 2010 and 2014, the Falconets will be hoping to go one step further in Poland and win Nigeria’s first-ever FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup title.
