Hakeem Busari Leads Flamingos To Clinch Maiden FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup Crown
By Saheed Afolabi
Nigeria have made history by winning the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup for the first time after defeating Japan 2-1 in Saturday’s final in Rabat, Morocco.
The victory marks a landmark achievement for Nigerian women’s football, with the Flamingos becoming the first African nation to win the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.
Hakeem Busari’s side delivered an impressive performance to overcome the Japanese, who were seeking their second title after previously winning the competition in 2014.
Awawu Bashiru opened the scoring for Nigeria with a powerful strike from the edge of the penalty box in the 39th minute and Oluebube Umejiaku sealed the memorable win for Nigeria two minutes after the start of the second half.
Fuki Ito reduced the deficit for Japan in the 80th minute which wasn’t enough to deny the Flamingos from winning their first title.
Nigeria’s triumph also represents a remarkable turnaround after they began their campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Poland in their opening Group B encounter.
The Flamingos responded positively to that setback, recording a 2-0 victory over Puerto Rico before defeating defending champions North Korea 3-1 to advance to the knockout stages.
They maintained their momentum with a 2-1 victory over Mexico in the round of 16 before edging Venezuela 1-0 in the quarter-finals.
In the semi-finals, Nigeria produced one of their finest performances of the competition, beating Brazil 3-1, with Queen Joseph opening the scoring before Awawu Bashiru struck twice to secure a historic place in the final.
Their victory over Japan completed a memorable campaign in which the Flamingos demonstrated remarkable attacking quality and resilience.
Nigeria finished the tournament with 14 goals scored and six conceded in seven matches, highlighting their attacking strength throughout the competition.
The Flamingos also recorded six victories and suffered just one defeat, with their only loss coming against Poland in the opening game.
