Flamingos Revive World Cup Hopes
Nigeria’s Flamingos have revived their campaign at the 2026 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco after defeating Puerto Rico 2-0 in their second Group B match.
Goals from Oluwakemi Adegbuyi and Precious Oscar secured Nigeria’s first victory of the tournament, giving the young Nigerians three important points in their quest to reach the knockout stage.
The Flamingos started the encounter with attacking intent, creating opportunities to break the deadlock.
Their persistence paid off in the 25th minute when Adegbuyi found the back of the net to put Nigeria ahead.
Nigeria maintained its advantage through the first half and continued to protect the lead after the restart, while Puerto Rico searched for an equaliser.
The decisive moment arrived in stoppage time when Precious Oscar scored in the 90th minute plus three, confirming a 2-0 victory for the Nigerian side.
The result provides a welcome response from coach Akeem Busari’s team, which opened its campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Poland.
In that encounter, Poland scored twice before Oluebube Umejiaku pulled one back for Nigeria in the 79th minute. However, the Flamingos could not find an equaliser.
Puerto Rico, meanwhile, suffered its second consecutive defeat after losing 6-0 to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in its opening match.
In the other Group B fixture on Tuesday, North Korea strengthened its position with a 6-1 victory over Poland, setting up a crucial meeting with Nigeria in the final round of group matches. <Cite refs={[“turn411541search13″,”turn411541search9”]}/>
Under the tournament format, the top two teams in each group qualify automatically for the Round of 16, alongside the four best third-placed teams across the six groups.
The Flamingos will face North Korea on Friday, October 23, in a decisive encounter that could shape their qualification prospects.
Nigeria’s victory over Puerto Rico has restored momentum, but the team will need another disciplined performance against the group leaders to strengthen its chances of progressing in Morocco.
