The Nigerian U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos secured a crucial 2-1 victory over Mexico in the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Round of 16 encounter played on Thursday in Sale, Morocco.

A goal in each half earned the Hakeem Busari girls a well-deserved victory and a meeting with Venezuela in the quarter-finals.

El Tri started the brighter and saw two chances fall the way of star player Citlalli Reyes, but the captain saw one effort from the top of the box deflected behind and her second saved by Jane Ijirigho when clean through.

Nigeria inched into the contest and took the lead when Mexico failed to deal with a searching Esther Stephen ball forward, which fell to Oluebube Umejiaku, who made no mistake in firing into the top corner.

The Flamingos remained comfortable and doubled their lead through Mary Dunstan, with the No8 smashing home after a Kanyinsola Yusuf cross had only been half-cleared. Emily Delgado pulled a goal back for Mexico deep into injury time, but Nigeria held on for the crucial victory.

Speaking in a post-match interview, Flamingos head Coach Hakeem Busari said “When you come into this kind of competition, and you get to the knockout stages, it’s more tactical and there’s a lot of intensity involved because they’re young and anxiety comes because it’s the knockout stage. Today was a tough game, but we’re no pushovers.”

The Flamingos will play Venezuela in the quarter-finals of the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup on Sunday, November 1 at Mohammed VI Football Academy, Pitch 4, Sale, Morocco

In one of the other Round of 16 matches played yesterday, China PR goalkeeper Niu Ziqi emerged the hero after making two crucial saves in a penalty shootout to set up a quarter-final meeting with Brazil.

The Asian side could not be separated from France during regulation time, as both sides battled to the first goalless draw of the tournament. France dominated the opening half but could not make the most of their possession.