According to a report by ESPN on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Nigeria's Flamingos will face defending champions North Korea in their final Group B encounter at the ongoing FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Morocco, with qualification for the knockout stage at stake.

The highly anticipated encounter will take place on Friday, October 23, 2026, as Nigeria attempt to secure another positive result following their impressive 2-0 victory over Puerto Rico on Tuesday.

Nigeria's campaign began with a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Poland on October 17. However, the Flamingos responded positively against Puerto Rico, collecting their first three points of the competition.

Oluwakemi Adegbuyi opened the scoring in the 25th minute before Queen Joseph Oscar added another goal during second-half stoppage time to secure an important victory.

The result moved Nigeria to third position in Group B with three points from two matches, keeping their hopes of progressing to the next round alive.

North Korea, meanwhile, have demonstrated remarkable attacking strength since the tournament began.

The Asian champions defeated Puerto Rico 6-0 in their opening encounter before recording another convincing 6-1 victory over Poland on Tuesday.

Those results have placed North Korea at the top of Group B with six points, having scored 12 goals and conceded just once.

Their impressive performances suggest that Nigeria will face their toughest challenge of the group stage when both teams meet.

Match Date And Kick-Off Time

The encounter between Nigeria and North Korea is scheduled for Friday, October 23, 2026.

Kick-off is set for 4:00 p.m. Nigerian time, equivalent to 3:00 p.m. GMT.

The match will take place at the Mohammed VI Football Academy, Pitch 1, in Salé, Morocco.

Both teams will be aiming for a positive result, although Nigeria have considerably more at stake because their qualification hopes remain uncertain.

Head-To-Head Record

Nigeria and North Korea have previously met at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

One notable encounter occurred during the 2010 tournament in Trinidad and Tobago, when Nigeria defeated North Korea 3-2.

However, previous results offer little guarantee ahead of Friday's encounter, particularly considering North Korea's outstanding performances in the current competition.

The defending champions have established themselves as one of the tournament's strongest attacking teams, while Nigeria will need to improve their defensive organisation and finishing.

A victory against North Korea would take Nigeria to six points and significantly strengthen their chances of advancing to the knockout stage.

A draw would leave the Flamingos with four points, meaning their qualification prospects could depend on the result between Poland and Puerto Rico and the ranking of third-placed teams.

Even a defeat would not automatically eliminate Nigeria, although progressing with three points would depend on results elsewhere.

With the two highest-ranked teams from each group and four best third-placed teams advancing to the Round of 16, Nigeria still have an opportunity to continue their World Cup campaign.

Head coach Akeem Busari will be hoping his players reproduce the determination they demonstrated against Puerto Rico when they confront the defending champions.

The Flamingos must remain disciplined defensively while taking advantage of their scoring opportunities if they hope to produce an upset against the tournament favourites.

Friday's encounter promises to be an important test of Nigeria's ability to compete against one of the strongest teams in women's youth football.