Nigeria’s participation at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup has been thrown into uncertainty following visa delays affecting some members of the Falconets squad, The PUNCH reports.
Falconets captain Joy Igbokwe was reportedly yet to secure a Polish visa as of Monday, raising concerns over her availability for the tournament, which will take place in Poland from 5 to 27 September.
The visa difficulties also forced the team to postpone its departure from last Thursday to Monday as the Nigeria Football Federation worked to resolve the issue.
Igbokwe was not among the 19 players and four officials pictured during the team’s departure for Poland on Monday, further fuelling uncertainty over her participation.
Head coach Monday Aduku is also yet to announce his final squad, with less than two weeks to the start of the competition.
After several weeks of preparations in Abuja, the Falconets were scheduled to continue their final training programme in Trzebnica, Poland, from Monday.
The visa situation could therefore affect the composition of the Nigerian squad for the tournament, particularly if the outstanding travel documents are not secured in time.
Nigeria have featured at every edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup since the competition was introduced in 2002.
The Falconets are drawn in Group F alongside Spain, New Caledonia and China and will begin their campaign against Spain on 7 September in Sosnowiec.
Nigeria are two-time runners-up at the tournament, having claimed silver medals in 2010 and 2014. They also won bronze in 2012.
The Falconets lost both of their finals to Germany, while their bronze-medal finish came in 2012.
Nigeria, Brazil and the United States are the only teams to have appeared at every edition of the competition, following Germany’s failure to qualify for the 2026 tournament.
The Nigerian side secured its place in Poland in May after defeating Malawi 3-2 on aggregate in the final qualifying round.
The Falconets won the first leg 2-0 in Ikenne before suffering a 2-1 defeat in the return fixture in Lilongwe, but advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
With the tournament fast approaching, the NFF faces a race against time to resolve the outstanding visa issues and ensure the coaching staff have their full complement of players available for Nigeria’s opening fixture.
