The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Acting General Secretary, Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Poland, Her Excellency Chioma Ohakim, have commended the Falconets for their spirited showing at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup despite their agonising quarter-final elimination by Colombia.

Nigeria’s campaign came to an unfortunate end in Łódź on Sunday after Valerin Loboa scored in stoppage time to hand Colombia a 1-0 victory and secure the South Americans’ passage to the semi-finals.

The Falconets produced a determined performance and created several promising opportunities but were unable to find the decisive finish against a resilient Colombian defence.

Janet Akekoromowei came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half when her effort from the edge of the box struck the crossbar in the 19th minute.

Tumininu Adeshina also tested Colombia goalkeeper Luisa Agudelo in the 38th minute, while Nigeria continued to threaten through Tosin Rafiu, Favour Nkwocha and Onyedikachi Ekezie.

The Falconets’ challenge became even more difficult in the 77th minute when Kafayat Mafisere was shown a straight red card following a VAR review, leaving Nigeria with 10 players for the closing stages.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, the Nigerian side continued to battle and looked capable of forcing the encounter into extra time before Colombia delivered the decisive blow.

Loboa’s initial effort was blocked by Nigeria goalkeeper and captain Christiana Uzoma, but the Colombian forward reacted quickest to the rebound and fired home in the second minute of added time to settle the quarter-final.

Reacting to the result, Ikpeme praised the Falconets for their energy, courage and confidence throughout the encounter, insisting that the players had nothing to be ashamed of despite the defeat.

“You gave your best out there, and the NFF and every Nigerian watching saw that you held nothing back. You did not take the Colombians for granted and you certainly did not play with any form of complex,” Ikpeme told the players.

“It is a game you could have won easily if you had been able to convert some of the numerous chances that you created, but that is sport. Please don’t be disoriented by the result,” he added.

Also speaking in the dressing room at the Stadion ŁKS Miejski, Ambassador Ohakim offered words of encouragement to the players and officials following the heartbreaking defeat.

“The result was unfortunate because you played your hearts out. Everyone who saw the match can testify to your determination and desire to make it to the semi-finals. Nigerians in Poland are very proud of your efforts,” she said.

The Falconets had earlier recovered strongly from a difficult group-stage campaign to reach the quarter-finals. After losing 2-0 to Spain and drawing 0-0 with China, Nigeria produced a commanding 10-1 victory over New Caledonia to advance to the knockout phase.

They followed that emphatic performance with another impressive display in the Round of 16, defeating England 3-0 to book their place among the final eight teams in Poland.

Although the late defeat to Colombia ended their pursuit of a semi-final place, the Falconets’ campaign featured a significant turnaround after the group stage and a convincing knockout-stage victory over England.

The narrow quarter-final loss ultimately brought Nigeria’s tournament journey to an end, with the Falconets departing the competition having demonstrated resilience, attacking ambition and the ability to compete against some of the leading teams in the tournament.