England U-20 women’s head coach Lydia Bedford said her side were disappointed to leave the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup after a 3-0 defeat by Nigeria in the last 16.
The Young Lionesses were beaten by Nigeria’s Falconets in Bielsko-Biala, bringing their tournament to an end after a difficult encounter.
Nigeria made the stronger start and took an early lead when midfielder Tosin Rafiu found the net, putting England under pressure.
The Falconets also benefited from an outstanding performance by goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma, who helped preserve their advantage with two important saves.
Uzoma first denied Princess Ademiluyi with an excellent stop before making an even more significant intervention later in the match. She saved a penalty from England’s in-form forward Rachel Maltby, pushing the effort on to the crossbar and away from danger.
Bedford praised the overall experience of competing at the tournament but admitted the last-16 exit was difficult to accept.
“I think it’s been a fantastic tournament. We’ve enjoyed being part of it, but we’re disappointed to be going home at this stage,” Bedford told FIFA.
The England coach also acknowledged that her team had struggled to cope with Nigeria’s style of play, particularly the physical threat and direct attacking approach of the Falconets.
“Nigeria’s forwards were very effective in being direct and physical, and I think that’s something that perhaps we struggled to compete with at times,” she said.
Despite the defeat, Bedford believes the experience will benefit the players as they seek to establish themselves at senior level.
She said the lessons from the tournament could help them move towards either Sarina Wiegman’s squad in Brazil next year or continued development with the England U-23s.
“I think this experience will be extremely important to them as they move into their senior careers and hopefully push towards either Sarina Wiegman’s squad in Brazil next year or work with me in the U-23s going forward,” Bedford added.