Nigeria's Flamingos won the U-17 Women's World Cup with 14 goals scored and six conceded, and six of those 14 came from the 71st minute onwards. Our count from FIFA match data also shows they were ahead at half-time in only four of their seven games.
As we reported, the 2-1 final win over Japan closed it out on 7 November, after the quarter-final win over Venezuela and the semi-final against Brazil. The table gives all seven games, with the half-time score from Nigeria's side first.
| Date | Round | Match | Half-time | Nigeria scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Oct | Group B | Poland 2-1 Nigeria | 0-1 | Umejiaku 79 |
| 20 Oct | Group B | Nigeria 2-0 Puerto Rico | 1-0 | Adegbuyi 25, Oscar 90+3 |
| 23 Oct | Group B | Nigeria 3-1 DPR Korea | 2-0 | Adegbuyi 15, Umejiaku 38, Yusuf 56 |
| 29 Oct | Round of 16 | Nigeria 2-1 Mexico | 1-0 | Umejiaku 40, Dunstan 71 |
| 1 Nov | Quarter-final | Nigeria 1-0 Venezuela | 0-0 | Oduntan 89 |
| 4 Nov | Semi-final | Brazil 1-3 Nigeria | 0-0 | Joseph 56, Bashiru 71, 80 |
| 7 Nov | Final | Japan 1-2 Nigeria | 1-0 | Bashiru 39, Umejiaku 47 |
Seven games. Fourteen goals. One half-time deficit, against Poland.
Nine goals after the break, and a goal conceded in five of seven games
Five of the 14 goals came before half-time and nine after. Dunstan on 71, Bashiru on 71 and 80, Umejiaku on 79, Oduntan on 89 and Oscar on 90+3 make six in the last 20 minutes or so of normal time, one more than Nigeria managed in all seven first halves.
Only Poland's goal on 33 minutes arrived before the hour. The other five came on 65, 80, 82, 89 and 90+10, and the last was Mexico's Emily Delgado in the round of 16, in the tenth minute of stoppage time, after Nigeria had been two clear since the 71st minute. Three of the four knockout wins were by one goal. The four games produced eight goals for and three against, a margin of +5 against +3 in the group.
Eight scorers, and a group settled on goal difference
Oluebube Umejiaku led them with four, each in a different game, including the only Nigeria goal in the defeat by Poland. Awawu Bashiru has three, all in the last two matches. Oluwakemi Adegbuyi has two, both in the group, and Precious Oscar, Kanyinsola Yusuf, Mary Dunstan, Azeezat Oduntan and Queen Joseph have one each. Round by round, the scorers were Umejiaku, Adegbuyi, Oscar and Yusuf in the group, Umejiaku and Dunstan in the round of 16, Oduntan in the quarter-final, Joseph and Bashiru against Brazil, then Bashiru and Umejiaku in the final.
Group B ended with DPR Korea, Nigeria and Poland all on six points. Korea scored 13. Poland scored nine. Nigeria managed six, the fewest of the three. Goal differences of +9, +3 and 0 still put Nigeria second.
All seven games were played at the Mohammed VI Football Complex, on four different pitches. FIFA lists Pitch 4 for three of them and Pitch 3 for the semi-final and the final.
Attendances ran from 199 for the Korea game to 1,121 for the final, which kicked off at 7.30pm Lagos time.
Abuja reception
At a State House reception on Wednesday 11 November, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu announced on behalf of the president ₦100 million in savings certificates for each player, held in trust, ₦100 million in cash for head coach Akeem Busari and ₦50 million for each member of the technical crew, the News Agency of Nigeria reported. Voice of Nigeria gave the same figures and added that the players' money is held in trust because of their age. The Nigeria Football Federation had published no bonus of its own when we checked.
This article was most recently revised and updated 10 seconds ago
