Written by Rahmon OluwoNigeria sports betting writer
Published 8 November 2026
A team that lost its opening match has ended the tournament on top of the world. Nigeria’s Flamingos beat Japan 2-1 in the final of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat on Saturday 7 November 2026.
The win makes Nigeria the first African nation to lift the trophy, and the first Nigerian women’s team to win a FIFA world title.
How the final was won
Awawu Bashiru gave Nigeria the lead in the 39th minute after linking up with Mary Dunstan. Two minutes after the restart, Oluebube Umejiaku doubled the advantage from a chance created by Esther Stephen.
Japan, champions in 2014, pulled one back through Fuki Ito in the 80th minute and made the closing stretch tense. The Nigerian defence stayed firm until the final whistle.
From an opening loss to the title
The campaign did not start well. The Flamingos lost their first group game 2-1 to Poland. That makes them the first team in the history of the tournament to lose its opening match and still win the title.
They bounced back with a 2-0 win over Puerto Rico, then beat defending champions North Korea 3-1. In the knockout rounds they edged Mexico 2-1 and got past Venezuela in the quarter-final. They then beat Brazil 3-1 in the semi-final on Wednesday 4 November at the Mohammed VI Football Academy in Salé.
That semi-final was already a landmark. Queen Joseph opened the scoring in the 56th minute, and Bashiru added two more in the 71st and 80th. Brazil’s Greise Kelly pulled one back in the 89th. The result made Nigeria the first African team to reach the final of the competition.
Beyond the previous best
Before this tournament, Nigeria’s best finish was third place in 2022, when the Flamingos beat Germany in the bronze-medal match in India. Ghana’s bronze in 2012 was the only other podium finish by an African team.
The title also completes a double for Nigeria. The Golden Eaglets have won the boys’ U-17 World Cup five times, and Nigeria is now the first African country to win both the boys’ and girls’ versions of the tournament.
The people behind it
The team is captained by Chidera Harmony Chidi and coached by Akeem Busari, who was appointed by the Nigeria Football Federation to replace Bankole Olowookere. Busari led the side through qualifying, where the Flamingos beat Benin 5-3 in Lomé in July to win 8-5 on aggregate and book their place in Morocco.
Nigeria celebrates
President Bola Tinubu congratulated the team on the historic win, having earlier urged the girls to go for gold after the semi-final. First Lady Oluremi Tinubu was among those celebrating the victory, and the National Sports Commission was among the first to congratulate the squad after the final whistle.
Back home, Nigerians could watch the final live on M4STV, which got FIFA approval to broadcast the match.
For a group of teenagers who began the tournament with a defeat, it is the kind of ending few would have predicted. Nigerian women’s football now has a world title of its own, and Africa has a new name on the U-17 Women’s World Cup trophy.
