Flamingos beat Mexico to secure W’Cup quarterfinal slot
Nigeria’s U-17 Women’s national team, the Flamingos, have secured a quarterfinal place at the ongoing FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup with a victory over Mexico 2-1 on Thursday.
The Flamingos beat the El Tri Femeni Sub-17 of Mexico in a Round of 16 fixture played at the Mohammed VI Football Complex-Pitch in Rabat, Morocco.
The Mexican team dominated the first 20 minutes of the match as the Flamingos gradually settled into the encounter with Oluebube Umejiaku leading the charge for the Flamingos.
The Flamingos scored the first goal of the game in the 40th minute of the game through Umejiaku who blasted home a shot from inside the box. The goal survived a VAR check after Mexico protested a foul leading to the opener.
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The Mexican team pushed hard for an equaliser thereafter but the first half of the match ended 1-0, in favour of the Flamingos tutored by Akeem Busari.
The Nigerian team started the second half on the front foot taking total control of the game with the Mexican team putting up a good defensive display in order not to concede a second goal against their opponents.
However, the Flamingos scored a second goal in the 70th minute of the match when Mary Dunstan fired an unstoppable shot from inside the box which beat the Mexican goalkeeper.
The Flamingos held on to their 2-0 lead in the game until the 90+10 minutes when Emily Delgado reduced the deficit when she scored her team’s first and only goal which proved too little and too late as the Nigerian team held their nerves to finish the encounter by 2-1 after 90 minutes.
With this victory, Nigeria has set up a highly anticipated quarter-final clash against Venezuela, which will take place on November 1, 2026. Venezuela earned their spot in the last 8 by defeating Germany 1–0.
