Nigeria’s Flamingos began their 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Poland in their opening Group B match at the Women’s Football Complex in Rabat, Morocco, on Saturday.
Poland took the lead in the 33rd minute, when Wiktoria Skrzypczak converted a penalty to give the Europeans a 1-0 advantage at half-time. The Flamingos returned for the second half hoping to find an equaliser, but Natalia Skrok doubled the lead in the 66th minute, which placed Nigeria under greater pressure as they chased the game.
Oluebube Umejiaku pulled one back in the 79th minute, scoring Nigeria’s only goal, but her effort was not enough to prevent defeat.
The result leaves Nigeria level on zero points with Puerto Rico at the foot of Group B, while Poland and defending champions Korea DPR lead with three points each. Korea DPR, four-time winners of the competition, opened with a 6-0 win over debutants Puerto Rico, with Yu Jong-Hyang and Kim Won-Sim scoring twice each.
The Flamingos arrived in Morocco as WAFU-B U-17 Girls’ Championship winners. They won all five matches in Ivory Coast last month, scoring 17 goals and conceding just once, and beat Togo 4-0 in the final. They qualified for the World Cup by beating Benin in the final round of African qualifying.
Head coach Akeem Busari named a 21-player squad, and the team landed in Morocco on October 7 to prepare. Captain Harmony Chidi led the attack after scoring five goals in the qualifying campaign and three more at the WAFU-B championship.
Poland reached the tournament by beating England 2-0 in the UEFA play-off, with midfielder Zofia Burzan scoring both goals. She also scored four goals at the European U-17 Championship, and 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.
The Flamingos face Puerto Rico on Tuesday, October 20, in what is now a must-win game, before a daunting meeting with Korea DPR on Friday, October 23. The tournament has 24 nations and runs until November 7, and the top two teams in each group and the four best third-placed teams reach the Round of 16.