Nigeria’s Flamingos have qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco after defeating Mexico 2-1 on Thursday.
Goals from Oluebube Umejiaku and Mary Dunstan secured the victory for Nigeria, despite a late goal from Mexico’s Emily Delgado.
Umejiaku opened the scoring in the 39th minute after taking advantage of a defensive mistake to put the Flamingos ahead.
Nigeria continued to dominate after the break, and Dunstan doubled the lead in the 70th minute. The midfielder reacted quickly after Mexico’s goalkeeper, Ania López, saved an effort from substitute Precious Oscar before lifting the rebound into the net.
Mexico pulled one goal back through Delgado in the second minute of added time, but the Flamingos held on to secure their place in the last eight.
The victory continues Nigeria’s impressive recovery after losing their opening group match 2-1 to Poland.
The Flamingos bounced back with a 2-0 win over Puerto Rico before recording a 3-1 victory against defending champions North Korea to qualify for the knockout stage.
Nigeria finished second in Group B with six points from three matches, scoring six goals and conceding four.
The Flamingos will face Venezuela in the quarter-finals on Sunday, 1 November, after the South Americans defeated Germany 1-0 in their Round of 16 encounter.
Nigeria will hope to continue their winning run as they aim to reach the semi-finals and improve on their third-place finish at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
