Nigeria's Flamingos meet Japan in the final of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup on Saturday 7 November 2026, with kick-off at 19:30 Lagos time on Pitch 3 of the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat. The Flamingos reached it by beating Brazil 3-1 on 4 November, while Japan got past DPR Korea 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Two routes to Rabat, side by side
Same complex for every match. That makes the table below a like-for-like comparison, with scorers shown wherever FIFA's match centre or our own archive lists them.
| Round | Nigeria | Japan |
|---|---|---|
| Group, 1st match | Poland 2-1 Nigeria (Umejiaku) | Japan 5-0 Zambia |
| Group, 2nd match | Nigeria 2-0 Puerto Rico (Adegbuyi, Precious Oscar) | Japan 2-0 France |
| Group, 3rd match | Nigeria 3-1 DPR Korea (Adegbuyi, Umejiaku, Kanyinsola Yusuf) | Venezuela 0-2 Japan |
| Round of 16, 29 October | Nigeria 2-1 Mexico (Oluebube Umejiaku, Mary Dunstan) | Japan 3-1 Kenya (Mei Hanashiro, Nanami Kurita, Asuka Tanaka) |
| Quarter-final, 1 November | Nigeria 1-0 Venezuela (Azeezat Oduntan, penalty) | Ghana 0-1 Japan (Nanami Kurita) |
| Semi-final, 4 November | Brazil 1-3 Nigeria (Queen Joseph, Awawu Bashiru twice) | Japan 1-1 DPR Korea, 4-1 on penalties (own goal) |
Our tally, built from the FIFA fixtures, puts Japan at 14 goals scored and 2 conceded in six matches, against 12 and 5 for Nigeria. Japan kept four clean sheets, Nigeria two. And Japan have not lost at the complex.
The same opponent, a different result
DPR Korea are the one team both finalists have faced. Nigeria beat them 3-1 on 23 October. Japan needed penalties.
Ri Ui Gyong put DPR Korea ahead in the 52nd minute of the semi-final, and Japan only levelled through an own goal by Won Sol Gyong in the 90+5th, before winning the shoot-out 4-1. Five goals in three knockout matches, one of them an own goal, is a thin return from a side that had scored nine without reply in the group stage, and the drop is sharpest in the last two rounds, where Japan scored once in each match and needed a stoppage-time own goal to stay alive against DPR Korea.
The Flamingos' path has been bumpier. Poland won the opener 2-1, and Nigeria then ended Group B level on six points with DPR Korea and Poland, in second place. Mexico, on 29 October, pulled one back through Emily Delgado in the 90+10th minute. Against Brazil, all three goals came after the 55th minute, which says something about how the Flamingos close games.
Not tidy. Effective.
What is on the line
FIFA lists no recent meeting between Nigeria and Japan, so neither side has a result to lean on. Our semi-final report covers how the Brazil game turned, and the group win over DPR Korea shows the other side of that shared opponent.
Third place is settled first, with DPR Korea against Brazil at 16:00 on Pitch 2.
We could not find a confirmed broadcaster for Nigerian viewers, nor an official update on the Flamingos' availability, as of 6 November 2026, so neither is stated here.
This article was most recently revised and updated 11 seconds ago
