U17 WCQ: Nigeria’s Flamingos Crush South Africa, Advance to Next Round

Nigeria’s U-17 women’s team, the Flamingos, delivered a dominant performance against South Africa to secure their spot in the next round of the U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers. Read the match highlights.

On Saturday, Nigeria made significant progress towards qualifying for the 2025 U-17 Women’s World Cup by defeating South Africa 2-0 at Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, Ogun State.

Last week, the Flamingos triumphed over the Bantwana with a 3-1 victory in the first leg of their encounter. This performance allowed them to advance to the next stage of qualification with an impressive 5-1 aggregate win.

The game remained goalless after the initial exchanges until Harmony Chidi, who had previously scored twice in the first leg, headed a goal from a sharp angle in the 37th minute on Saturday. This extended the challenge for the visiting team.

Shakirat Moshood, who had previously scored in the first leg, expertly delivered a free kick from the right. Eleven minutes into the second half, she became the playmaker once more by connecting with Aishat Animashaun. Animashaun skillfully chipped the ball over Samekelise Mthembu and into the net to secure Nigeria’s second goal of the match.

The Flamingos were given a bye into the second round of World Cup qualification due to their impressive performance in the last edition of the tournament, where they secured third place.

Nigeria will compete against the victor of the Botswana and Algeria match in the final round of qualification.

Four countries from the final round of qualifiers will join host nation Morocco to represent Africa at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

The competition is scheduled to occur from October 17th to November 5th, 2025.