The national under-20 women’s football team of Nigeria, the Falconets, has been paired with Burundi in the second round of the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
On Thursday in Cairo, Egypt, the Confederation of African Football officially conducted the draw.
As the road to the world championship is now officially open, the draw produced some intriguing ties.
Between September 1 and September 10, the first six nations with the lowest rankings will compete in a round-robin format.
Togo will compete against Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea will go up against Libya, and Mauritius will go up against Chad.
The winners from this round will then move on to the second round of the qualifiers.
In this round, Ethiopia will take on the winners of the Equatorial Guinea and Libya pairing, while Senegal will face off with Mali.
Nigeria, semi-finalists at the last edition of the global competition, face Burundi while Ghana await the winners of the clash between Togo and Guinea Bissau.
These second qualifying round matches will take place between Oct. 6 and Oct. 15, with the winners heading to the third round of qualifiers scheduled for Nov. 12 to Nov. 19.
The four countries will then face each other in a round-robin format to determine two representatives for Africa at the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup.