According to a report by Premium Times on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Nigeria’s 17-year-old forward Precious Chiemere Oscar has revealed the prayer she made before coming onto the pitch and scoring against Puerto Rico at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.

Oscar prayed to God to help her make a positive impact and relieve the pressure on her teammates before entering the pitch during Nigeria’s 2-0 victory over Puerto Rico.

The Flamingos forward came off the bench and scored in stoppage time to seal Nigeria’s first victory at the tournament, following their opening 2-1 defeat to Poland.

“First of all, I’m grateful to God Almighty because it is by His grace,” Oscar said.

“Before I entered the pitch, I prayed to God, asking Him to help me because anything can happen. I asked Him to help me relieve the pressure on my team. To God be the glory, I’m happy that I did it.

“This is my first-ever World Cup goal, and I’m so happy about it.”

Oscar’s late strike secured all three points for Nigeria after Oluwakemi Adegbuyi had opened the scoring in the 25th minute.

The youngster also revealed that her experience at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup earlier in the year helped her approach the tournament with greater confidence.

She explained that she encouraged her teammates to keep fighting when she entered the game, reminding them that the match was not over and that they still had an opportunity to secure victory.

“When I entered the pitch, I had to encourage my teammates and tell them that it wasn’t over and that anything could happen. So, we kept pushing despite the pressure,” she said.

The victory revived Nigeria’s hopes of progressing to the knockout stage after their disappointing opening-day defeat to Poland.

Oscar is now looking forward to the Flamingos’ next Group B fixture against defending champions Korea DPR, with the forward expressing confidence that the victory over Puerto Rico will boost the team’s morale.

“Our mindset is to win, and I thank God for these three points because they will boost me and my teammates to come out stronger in the game against North Korea,” she said.

Nigeria will need another strong performance in their final group-stage match as they seek to advance to the Round of 16 at the tournament in Morocco.