Nigeria are world champions at under-17 level. The Flamingos beat Japan 2-1 at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat on Saturday 7 November 2026. Awawu Bashiru scored from distance on 39 minutes and Oluebube Umejiaku added a second two minutes after the restart, before Fuki Ito pulled one back for Japan on 80 minutes. Nigeria later hit the crossbar from a corner and held on to the whistle.
No African nation had won the tournament before.
Beaten on day one, unbeaten after that
Akeem Busari's side lost 2-1 to Poland on 17 October, in their opening match of the competition. They did not lose again. Not once. Puerto Rico, North Korea, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil and Japan all fell in turn, and the table below follows the run with Nigeria's scorers. Our preview of the final has the road to Rabat in more detail.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Nigeria scorers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 October | Poland | L 1-2 | Umejiaku 79 |
| 20 October | Puerto Rico | W 2-0 | Adegbuyi 25, Oscar 90+3 |
| 23 October | North Korea | W 3-1 | Adegbuyi 15, Umejiaku 38, Yusuf 56 |
| 29 October | Mexico (last 16) | W 2-1 | Umejiaku 40, Dunstan 71 |
| 1 November | Venezuela (quarter-final) | W 1-0 | Oduntan 89 (penalty) |
| 4 November | Brazil (semi-final) | W 3-1 | Joseph 55, Bashiru 71, 80 |
| 7 November | Japan (final) | W 2-1 | Bashiru 39, Umejiaku 47 |
Six wins, one defeat, one trophy.
Fourteen scored, six conceded. Seven games. The two phases look different. In the three group games they scored six and conceded three. In the four knockout games they scored eight and conceded three. None of those four needed extra time or a shootout. Every round was settled inside ninety minutes, a clear break from a group stage that opened with the defeat to Poland and in which they conceded three goals in three games.
Eight scorers, led by Umejiaku and Bashiru
Eight different players scored for the Flamingos. Umejiaku led the list with four, one each against Poland, North Korea, Mexico and Japan. Bashiru arrived late. Three goals, all of them in the last two matches. Against Brazil the first half stayed goalless. Then came three Nigerian goals between the 55th and 80th minutes, Queen Joseph first and Bashiru twice. Brazil replied late. Too late. Azeezat Oduntan's penalty on 89 minutes was the only goal against Venezuela, the lowest-scoring of the six wins.
“This is a turnaround for Africa,” Busari said in an interview published on 8 November. President Bola Tinubu's statement, released on Saturday through special adviser Bayo Onanuga, said: “Our young girls have conquered the world.”
What it changes for the Falcons pipeline
The timing is useful for Nigerian women's football. The Super Falcons meet Morocco in the third round of Olympic qualifying in the window running from 23 February to 6 March 2027, after the 5-0 win over Comoros in October that put them in that third round. A squad this young is unlikely to feature in it. Still, the youth pipeline that feeds the senior side has just been shown to work at world level.
This article was most recently revised and updated 52 seconds ago
