Nigeria’s U-17 women’s team, the Flamingos, secured a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Benin Republic’s young Amazons at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, Ogun State, on Saturday, taking a crucial advantage into the second leg of the final round of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The visitors stunned the home crowd in the 16th minute when Romaine Gandonou finished off a brilliant solo run to hand Benin an early lead, but Nigeria responded five minutes later through Queen Joseph, who rose highest to power home a header and restore parity.
The Flamingos took control after the break, with Oluwakemi Adegbuyi tapping in from close range in the 62nd minute after Kindness Ifeanyi’s initial effort was parried by the Benin goalkeeper.
Benin hit back through Nazifatou Dangui to level the contest at 2-2, before Ifeanyi reacted quickest inside the box in the 75th minute to restore Nigeria’s lead and seal a vital home win.
Head coach, Akeem Busari, had said ahead of the game that his side expected a fiercely contested encounter, with the return leg scheduled for July 11 in Benin Republic and one of Africa’s four qualification slots for the Morocco finals at stake.
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“When it comes to the U17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers, it is always a gritty contest. Nigeria has consistently been one of the contenders, so it is always a tug of war,” Busari said before the match.
Nigeria entered the final round on the back of an 11-0 aggregate victory over Guinea, having also won three warm-up friendlies without conceding a goal, with captain Harmony Chidi scoring five times across the Guinea ties. Chidi had expressed confidence in the squad’s preparations ahead of the first leg.
“We have worked so hard and our coaches have given us everything. We believe in ourselves, and we want to make Nigerians proud,” Chidi said.
Elsewhere in the final round of African qualifying, Senegal face Ghana, Zambia take on Ethiopia, while South Africa battle Kenya for the remaining continental slots at the global finals.
Peter, who has been covering sports for PUNCH for close to two years, focuses on combat sports reporting, special features and human angle stories
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Source: The Punch
