Nigeria’s Flamingos suffered a 2–1 defeat to Poland in their opening match at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2026 on Saturday.

Goals from Wiktoria Skrzypczak and Natalia Skrok secured victory for Poland, while Oluebube Umejiaku scored Nigeria’s only goal as the Flamingos fell short despite a late push for an equaliser.

Poland started brightly and created an early opportunity when the ball fell to Skrok following a corner, but Elizabeth Adesuyi recovered quickly to clear her effort off the goal line.

The reprieve proved brief as Poland were awarded a penalty after Zofia Cendrowska broke through on goal. Although goalkeeper Jane Ijirigho saved her initial effort, Cendrowska was fouled by Ohunene Sunday while attempting to collect the rebound.

Skrzypczak converted the resulting spot-kick, sending the ball into the bottom-right corner to give Poland the lead.

Nigeria struggled to respond and conceded a second goal shortly after the hour mark. The Flamingos failed to clear a cross from Blanka Zajac, allowing Skrok to fire home through a crowded penalty area and put Poland in control.

However, Nigeria refused to give up and reduced the deficit when Umejiaku’s inviting free-kick from the right evaded everyone in the penalty area before nestling in the far corner.

The goal raised hopes of a comeback, and Umejiaku almost restored parity moments later when a deflected cross fell to her eight yards from goal. The Nigerian forward, however, failed to get her feet in order, allowing the opportunity to slip away.

Despite their late efforts, the Flamingos could not find another goal as Poland held on to claim all three points in their opening Group-stage fixture.