The Falconets of Nigeria, also known as the U-20 Women’s national team, are in preparation to commence their 2025 West African Football Union (WAFU Zone B) Under-20 girls cup against the reigning champions, the Black Maidens of Ghana, on Saturday at 10 am in Cotonou, Benin Republic, according to a report.
The recent report from the News Agency of Nigeria has it that the 2025 WAFU Zone B Under-20 Girls’ Cup is scheduled to begin on November 7, in the city of Cotonou, Benin Republic. Benin Republic, which is the current host nation, will kickstart the competition against Ghana on Friday, November 7, at 10 a.m.
The announcement on the 2nd of November has it that organisers of the competition made a postponement and restructuring of the championship due to the withdrawal of Mali and Burkina Faso from the tournament. The sudden withdrawal of both nations led the organisers to implement a new league-style format for the regional championship. This new structure was created to ensure competitive balance and to offer each nation increased playing opportunities despite the smaller number of participants.
Also Read:Red-Hot Osimhen Bags Hat-trick
However, it was verified that this change is intended to enhance tactical depth, player development, and fair competition, in line with their broader mission to bolster women’s youth football throughout the sub-region. That notwithstanding, the WAFU U-20 tournament, which was originally planned for November 3 to November 10, has been rescheduled to kick off from the 7th of November to November 12, featuring only three participating nations: which are the host nation Benin Republic, Nigeria, and Ghana.
The local knockout system will be scrapped to be replaced with the adopted round-robin format (which includes group and knockout stages); that is, the 2025 championship will follow a round-robin format, where each team will compete against the others twice.
In very clear terms, all the countries that will be participating in this tournament will play home and away matches, with the team that finishes at the top of the standings after all fixtures being crowned the WAFU B U20 champion.
