Nigeria’s Falconets drew 1-1 with Korea Republic in their final friendly before the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals begin on Saturday.
Forward Mary Mamudu once again found the net for the Nigeria U20 women’s national team, putting them ahead during Tuesday afternoon’s meeting. Korea Republic responded with an equaliser from the penalty spot, with 12 minutes remaining.
The result gives Nigeria a competitive finish to their preparations for the tournament, although they were unable to secure a second successive victory after beating hosts Poland 1-0 on Friday in Brzeg.
The Falconets, who won silver medals at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, will now turn their attention to the group stage. Their opening fixture is against Spain in Sosnowiec on Monday evening.
Nigeria will then return to Sosnowiec to face China on Thursday, 10 September, before concluding their group campaign against New Caledonia in Lodz on Sunday, 13 September.
Mamudu’s goal continued her positive contribution in the build-up to the finals, but Korea Republic’s late penalty ensured the two sides could not be separated. For Nigeria, the draw followed the narrow success over Poland and provided their final competitive examination before the tournament begins.
The Falconets’ first two group matches will take place in Sosnowiec. Their meeting with Spain will be the first opportunity for Nigeria to translate their friendly preparations into a World Cup campaign, while the fixture against China will follow four days later.
The team will then travel to Lodz for their final listed group-stage match against New Caledonia. The schedule means Nigeria will play across two Polish locations during the opening phase of the competition.
Nigeria’s record as two-time World Cup silver medallists adds further significance to their campaign. They finished runners-up in 2010 and again in 2014, and will hope to begin this year’s tournament positively after drawing with Korea Republic and defeating Poland in their final two warm-up matches.
The 1-1 result was the last chance for the Falconets to assess their readiness before the opening round of matches. Korea Republic’s late response prevented Nigeria from ending their friendly programme with another win, but the side now has a clear sequence of fixtures ahead: Spain, China and New Caledonia.