Coach Chris Musa Danjuma has assured that the Nigeria U20 girls, Falconets, have no fears as the draw ceremony for this year’s FIFA U20 World Cup finals takes place in the Colombian capital, Bogotá on Wednesday, Nigeriasocernet.com reports.
“We have no fear about any of the teams in the finals. Any team can be in our group. We know that to be the best, we have to beat the best,” said Danjuma, who took the team to the quarter-finals of the last edition in Costa Rica.
The 2024 finals in Colombia will be the first to welcome 24 teams, with Africa supplying four (Nigeria, Morocco, Cameroon and Ghana). Matches will take place in four venues in three different cities (Bogotá, Medellín and Cali).
There will be two venues in Bogotá – Estadio El Campín and Estadio El Techo. The Estadio Atanasio Girardot in Medellín and the Estadio Pascual Guerrero in Cali are the other venues.
Already, the 24 finalists have been segregated into four pots thus:
Pot 1: Colombia, Spain, Japan, France, Korea DPR, Germany
Pot 2: Nigeria, Brazil, Mexico, USA, Netherlands, New Zealand
Pot 3: Korea Republic, Ghana, Australia, Canada, Paraguay, Argentina
Pot 4: Austria, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Fiji Islands, Morocco, Venezuela
Wednesday’s draw will throw the 24 teams into six groups of four teams each, with the two top-placed teams in each group qualifying to a Round of 16, alongside the best four third-placed teams.
Germany and the USA are the biggest winners of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, with three triumphs each. Korea DPR are two-time winners, with Japan and Spain winning once each. Spain are the Cup holders.
By Olaleye Oluwadamilola