Women's Soccer: Nigeria Beat Canada 1-0 But Both Teams Exit the FIFA U-20 World Cup

However, both sides dropped out of the tournament failing to advance to the quarter-finals. The match was interrupted by a ten-minute long power cut towards the end of the second half which rolled in favor of Nigeria when the lights came back at the 84th minute. The game was extended by 15 minutes due to the blackout which halted the game at the 72nd minute. The Canadian defense had already started slacking off when the power was back on.

Heartbreaking Loss for Canada While Nigeria Faces Terrible Luck

Canada managed to stop the Africans from making a shot but their defense fell apart with time. After the save, midfielder Perpetua Nkwocha, who couldn't take proper aim in the first half, gathered her focus and netted the second shot. The Canadians were heartbroken by the end of the game due to their disappointing performance in the World Cup campaign that includes three defeats.

While the CONCACAF champions exited with three losses, Nigeria gained three points for their first victory. The win, however, did not bear any fruit due to their poor performance in the Group A games where they lost to quarter-finalists France and Germany. Their last match of the tournament at Dynamo Dresden's ground was merely a source of pride and entertainment for 13,638 fans.

Nigeria lost to Germany in Frankfurt which killed their World Cup aspirations. On the other hand, Canada had already suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of France at Bochum when they walked into their last match. The Canadian women had given away their first crack at qualifying for the World Cup when lost 1-0 to Mexico. Yet they dominated the third-place game in Santo Domingo, securing the last spot available.

Canadians Zoe Burns and Florianne Jourde delivered first-half goals in their match against Puerto Rico and sent them home. It ended in 2-0 with Canada bagging third place at the CONCACAF U-20 Women's Championship in order to book its ticket to this summer's FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Power Cut Culminates in Favour of Nigeria

Both Canada and Nigeria took major risks in the first half but the latter almost scored a goal. Nigeria midfielder Ebere Orji's shot intercepted the crossbar and Nkwocha flung the ball off the post. Meanwhile, Canada captain Christine Sinclair moved close midway through the half. The ball possession leaned more towards the Nigerians but defender Onome Ebi bagged the game's first yellow card at the hour mark. She was held up for a foul but that did not stop the Nigerians from thrashing the red jerseys.

Furthermore, the lights-out incident only provoked Nigeria to react quicker to the disruption, and Nkwocha's striker overpowered Canada goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc in no time. Shortly after, Sinclair sent an ill-timed shot that did not bear any goal.