Nigeria’s Flamingos will begin their 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup campaign against Poland in Rabat, Morocco, on Saturday (today).
Group B match kicks off at 6pm Nigerian time at the Women’s Football Complex. The 24-nation tournament runs from October 17 to November 7.
The Flamingos qualified by beating Benin in the final round of African qualifying. They arrived in Morocco on the back of the WAFU-B U-17 Girls’ Championship title, won last month in Ivory Coast. They won all five matches, scored 17 goals and conceded just once, and they beat Togo 4-0 in the final.
Head coach Akeem Busari has named a 21-player squad, and the team landed in Morocco on October 7. Since then, the players have held intensive training sessions to fine-tune their tactics and adjust to the pitch and weather.
Captain Harmony Chidi will lead the attack. She scored five goals in the qualifying campaign and three more at the WAFU-B championship. Goalkeeper Jane Ijirigho, Favour Nkwocha, Tosin Rafiu, Queen Joseph and Precious Oscar, who played at the recent U-20 Women’s World Cup, are expected to bring top-level tournament experience.
Busari has stressed unity and tactical flexibility ahead of the campaign.
“We have a flexible team whereby everybody just tries to give their best. We want a team whereby all of them are aiding one another in terms of their efforts and achievement,” he told FIFA.com.
“Our team has a mixed style. We can play a low block, a mid block, or a high block. It’s a flexible team but still a work in progress. They are young girls, so we have to be a little bit patient with them.”
The coach said the players were “happy and eager to represent their country and fly the green-white-green flag”.
“For us, it is a call to duty. We want to play and enjoy doing what we know best, and we are ready to serve and make Nigeria proud,” Busari said.
Poland will be a stern test. They reached the tournament by beating England 2-0 in the UEFA play-off, with midfielder Zofia Burzan scoring both goals. Burzan scored four goals at the European U-17 Championship. Poland reached the quarter-finals on their debut at the 2024 edition.
Nigeria are making a ninth appearance at the competition, and their best finish is third place in 2022, when they beat Germany on penalties in India to win the third-place play-off.
After Poland, the Flamingos face Puerto Rico on October 20 and Korea DPR on October 23. Korea DPR are the defending champions and four-time winners. The top two teams in each group and the four best third-placed teams reach the Round of 16.