Nigeria’s Flamingos have qualified for the final of the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup for the first time in history after beating Brazil 3-1 in the semi-final tie in Morocco.
Nigeria’s girls produced a spirited second-half display to beat their South American opponents, scoring three goals before Brazil got a late consolation, reports AFP.
Queen Joseph converted an assist from Oluwakemi Adegubyi as Nigeria took the lead in the 56th minute. Purchase Maps
The Flamingos went into double digits in the 71st minute when Awawu Bashiru netted, assisted by Queen Joseph.
Bashiru again found the net in the 80th minute for the 3-0 as he slotted home a feed from Oluebube Umejiaku with Nigeria in full control of the encounter.
Greise Kelly got one back for Brazil in the 89th minute with help from Yasmin Queiroz, but it was too little too late to threaten Nigeria’s win.
The first half had ended 0-0 as Nigeria had several opportunities but could not find the net.
The win takes the Flamingos to their first ever final of the competition and a historic feat for the Nigerian side.
They will take against Japan in the final of the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. Japan beat the defending champions North Korea in the other semi-final to seal their berth in the title match.
Unbelievable Comeback
The win is a great turnaround for the Flamingos who started their campaign with a 2-1 loss to Poland. They replied with a 2-0 victory over Puerto Rico, through goals from Oluwakemi Adegbuyi and Precious Oscar, before a 3-1 win against defending champions North Korea.
The victory over North Korea was even the sweeter as it ended the Asian side’s 18-match unbeaten record in regular time in the tournament.
The scorers for Nigeria in that match were Adegbuyi, Umejiaku and Kanyinsola Rodiat Yusuf.
Nigeria ended second in Group B with six points, scoring six and conceding four in their three group games.
In the Round of 16, the Flamingos beat Mexico 2-1 with Umejiaku and Mary Dunstan scoring in either half. Nigeria hung on to progress to the quarter-finals despite a late goal from Mexico’s Emily Delgado.
In the last eight, they beat Venezuela 1-0, Azeezat Oduntan scoring a penalty in the 89th minute to win a semi-final spot and set up the clash with Brazil.
This is another achievement for the team, whose best performance previously at the competition was a third-place position in 2022 when they overcame Germany on penalties in the bronze-medal match.
The Flamingos had also arrived in Morocco on the heels of an excellent WAFU B U-17 title winning campaign in which they won all five matches, scoring 17 goals and conceding just once.
Their win over Brazil has now taken them over their previous best at the tournament and into a position to contend for the trophy for the first time.
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