Nigeria, Portugal look to make knockout round push

The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026™ continues on Sunday with finales in Groups E and F. Nigeria and Portugal will be keen to collect full points against a pair of sides still searching for their first result in New Caledonia and Costa Rica.

Meanwhile, DPR Korea and Spain would like nothing more than to complete the group stage in perfect fashion, but they each will have to topple teams that are also in the knockout round hunt in Colombia and China PR.

Fixtures

Sunday, 13 September China PR-Spain Nigeria-New Caledonia Colombia-DPR Korea Portugal-Costa Rica

How to watch

The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Poland 2026™ will be available to watch on FIFA+ via DAZN in selected territories. Supporters can check which other broadcasters are showing each match in their territory on the Matches page. Fans can buy tickets to watch the stars of tomorrow here

Group F

China PR v Spain

Arena Sosnowiec | Sosnowiec

Kick-off time

15:00 in Sosnowiec 15:00 in Madrid 21:00 in Beijing

Already through to the knockout stage after two wins against Nigeria (2-0) and New Caledonia (11-0), Spain will not want to miss the chance to enjoy a perfect group stage for only the second time in their history, after Colombia 2024. However, a draw would be enough to confirm top spot. While a share of the points would not allow China PR to finish first, it would be enough to secure their place in the knockout stage. China PR have not achieved this feat since 2006, when they reached the final, losing 5-0 to DPR Korea.

Nigeria v New Caledonia

Stadion Miejski LKS Lodz | Lodz

Kick-off time

14:00 in Abuja 15:00 in Lodz 00:00 in Noumea (Monday, 14 September)

Goalkeeper Elizabeth Aben and her New Caledonia team-mates are still mathematically in contention for one of the four best third-place spots, but after a 5-0 defeat by China PR followed by an 11-0 loss to Spain, they know that their tournament is likely to come to an end in Lodz on Sunday. Head coach Leon Waitronyie has already made his intentions clear: "We need to play a little higher up the pitch and try to score a goal." The Cagous can expect another difficult game against a Nigeria side who will be strong favourites and will be looking to build on their goalless draw with China PR. With a win and four points in total, the Falconets would surely be in a strong position to qualify for the Round of 16.

Group E

Colombia v DPR Korea

Stadion Miejski LKS Lodz | Lodz

Kick-off time

11:00 in Bogota 18:00 in Lodz 01:00 in Pyongyang (Monday, 14 September)

Already through after two wins from two, DPR Korea have made an ideal start to the defence of their title in Poland. Having won all three of their group matches two years ago, the AFC giants will be hoping to repeat the feat, but they will have to be wary of their closest challengers in Group E, Colombia. Still unbeaten in the tournament, the South Americans face an exciting challenge. Their four points so far are likely to be enough to send them through to the Round of 16, but a surprise win against the reigning world champions would give them a chance to reclaim top spot in the group. Colombia have, after all, finished top of their group in each of their last two appearances at the tournament, in 2022 and 2024 on home soil.

Portugal v Costa Rica

Arena Sosnowiec | Sosnowiec

Kick-off time

10:00 in San Jose 17:00 in Lisbon 18:00 in Sosnowiec

Will Costa Rica finally have their moment? After 14 defeats in as many matches at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the Costa Ricans will hope to take advantage of their clash with tournament debutants Portugal and finally pick up their first points in the competition. Much improved from 2024, Sheika Scott and her team-mates need to win to keep their hopes of reaching the Round of 16 alive. Whatever happens, Sosnowiec is set to witness a first. Still without a goal in their history at the tournament, Portugal will be hoping to finally find the back of the net. If they fail to score again, Costa Rica could celebrate a double first: their first clean sheet and, more importantly, their first-ever unbeaten match at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

What they said...

"We want to keep moving forward in the tournament and keep winning. We will approach the game against China PR with the ambition of winning all three matches in this group." David Aznar, Spain coach

"For the last game, we have nothing to lose anyway. We know now that we are out of the tournament. We will try to set ourselves a target. At the start, the target was to try to qualify for the knockout stages. We knew it would be difficult, but we still had to set ourselves a target. So we set a lower target. Now, we are taking that target away and setting another one: to score a goal." Leon Waitronyie, New Caledonia coach

"One more 90 minutes to go and, honestly, we're going to fight and make sure we stay in the competition. I know we have not found our rhythm yet, the way we want to, but I think against New Caledonia, we'll go all out to try to win." Moses Aduku, Nigeria coach

"Why can't we compete against Spain? Let's see what the result will be." Wang Jun, China PR coach

"We believe [the Costa Rica match] won't be such a physical match like it was against DPR Korea and Colombia, therefore we believe in our ability to have the ball will give us more control and perhaps will give us the chance to go through to the knockout phase." Marina Gomes, Portugal coach

Key stats

• DPR Korea have the chance to record a 10th consecutive win at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, something they have never achieved before.

• In their three previous appearances at the competition, Colombia have never failed to reach the knockout stage.

• Still without a win in Poland, Nigeria have not failed to win a match at the tournament since the inaugural edition in 2002, when they drew one and lost two matches in the group stage. Since then, they have won at least one match at every edition they have taken part in.

• Spain's Celia Segura joined Annika Paz (Argentina), Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria), Stina Blackstenius (Sweden) and Liana Joseph (France) in scoring four goals in a single FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup match. Only Christine Sinclair (Canada) and Kim Un-Hwa (DPR Korea) have netted more with five in a single match.

• La Rojita's 11-0 triumph over New Caledonia is the joint-highest margin of victory in tournament history, matching France's 11-0 victory over Fiji in 2024, in addition to being the joint-highest scoring match ever at the global showpiece.