Nigeria’s U17 women’s team, the Flamingos, are through to the final of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup for the first time ever, thanks to a 3-1 semi-final win over Brazil.
Queen Joseph and Awawu Bashiru, who found the net twice, scored the goals that gave the Flamingos this historic win.
Joseph broke the deadlock in the 56th minute, and Bashiru then doubled Nigeria’s advantage in the 71st minute.
In the 80th minute, Bashiru grabbed her second goal of the match, sealing Nigeria’s 3-1 win and securing their spot in the final.
This feat is a significant milestone for the Nigerian team, which claimed bronze at the 2022 tournament.
The Flamingos will meet Japan in the final, where they aim to claim their first FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup title.
Neither Nigeria nor Brazil have ever made it to the final of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, even though both have reached the last four before.
Brazil got to the semi-finals for the first time in 2025, also in Morocco, but their run ended with a 2-0 loss to eventual champions DPR Korea. They then lost the third-place match, finishing fourth.
Nigeria’s only prior semi-final appearance was in India 2022. The Flamingos lost to Colombia at that stage but bounced back to beat Germany in the third-place match and take the bronze medal, their best result in the tournament to date.
Four years later, Busari’s side has the opportunity to take Nigerian women’s youth football somewhere it has never been.
