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Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, have secured a place in the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup after defeating defending champions North Korea 3-1 in their final Group B encounter.
The Nigerian girls produced an impressive display on Friday at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat, Morocco, combining disciplined defending with effective attacking play to overcome one of the tournament’s strongest teams.
Oluwakemi Adegbuyi opened the scoring for Nigeria in the 15th minute with an individual effort that gave the Flamingos an early advantage. The goal boosted the team’s confidence as they continued to trouble the North Korean defence.
Nigeria extended their lead in the 38th minute when Oluebube Umejiaku finished off a through pass from Tosin Rafiu, leaving the opposing goalkeeper unable to prevent the ball from entering the net.
The Flamingos maintained their momentum after the break, with Kanyisola Yusuf scoring the third goal to put Nigeria firmly in control of the encounter. North Korea, who had won their opening two matches convincingly, struggled to contain the Nigerian side.
The Asian champions managed to reduce the deficit in the 82nd minute through Yu Jong-Hyang, who converted a penalty after a Nigerian player handled the ball inside the box. However, the late goal was insufficient to prevent their first defeat of the group stage.
The victory lifted Nigeria to second place in Group B with six points from three matches. North Korea finished top of the group, while Poland also progressed after defeating Puerto Rico 6-2 in their final fixture.
The Flamingos had begun their campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Poland before recovering with a 2-0 victory over Puerto Rico. Adegbuyi scored in that encounter, while substitute Precious Oscar added a late header to secure the three points.
Nigeria will now turn their attention to the knockout stage as they seek to build on their achievement at the tournament. The team previously won bronze at the 2022 edition of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
