Colombia U-20 vs Nigeria U-20: Quarter-final clash at Women's World Cup
Colombia faces Nigeria in the U-20 Women's World Cup quarter-finals, looking to reach the semi-finals despite the injury of Maithe López.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Author: Wikimedia Morocco
The Colombia U-20 women's national team is set for a pivotal quarter-final match at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland. This Sunday, Carlos Paniagua's squad faces Nigeria, with both teams competing for a spot in the tournament's semi-finals.
Colombia enters this stage following a hard-fought 1-0 victory against the tournament hosts, Poland. The winning goal came late in the game, when a shot by Mariana Silva took a deflection off a Polish defender to secure the result.
However, the coaching staff faces a tactical challenge as they will be without forward Maithe López for the remainder of the tournament due to an injury sustained in the win against Poland. Paniagua will need to adjust his attacking plan to counter the physical and vertical style of the Nigerian side.
Nigeria has shown remarkable form recently. After a slow start to their group stage campaign, they found their rhythm by defeating New Caledonia 10-1 and followed that with a dominant 3-0 victory over England in the round of 16. The team led by Moses Aduku is aiming to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2014.