Nigeria’s Flamingos began their 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Poland in their opening Group B match at the Women’s Football Complex in Rabat, Morocco, on Saturday.
Both sides enjoyed spells of possession in the opening 30 minutes before Poland were awarded a penalty in the 33rd minute. Following a review by the Video Support system, the referee pointed to the spot after an incident involving a Nigerian defender and a Polish attacker. Wiktoria Skrzypczak converted to give Poland the lead.
The goal separated both teams at half-time, with Coach Akeem Busari’s side needing a response after the break. Poland thought they had doubled their lead in the 63rd minute, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Natalia Skrok made it 2-0 two minutes later, capitalising on a poor clearance by the Nigerian defence.
Coach Busari responded with double substitution in the 68th minute, introducing Oluebube Umejiaku and Awawu Bashiru for Harmony Chidi and Mary Dunstan. He would also go on to make extra two substitutions ten minutes later, with Kanyinsola Yusuf and Precious Oscar coming on as replacements for Queen Joseph and Adesuyi.
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The changes paid off in the 79th minute when Yusuf pulled one back for Nigeria shortly after coming on, giving the Flamingos hope of salvaging a result. Nigeria appealed for a penalty in the 86th minute following an incident involving Kemi Adegbuyi, but the referee upheld her original decision after another review. The Flamingos pushed for an equaliser but Poland held on to claim all three points.
Nigeria will look to bounce back when they face Puerto Rico in their next Group B fixture on Tuesday, 20 October, before taking on Korea DPR on Friday, 23 October.
The tournament has 24 nations and runs until November 7, and the top two teams in each group and the four best third-placed teams reach the Round of 16.
Nigeria are making a ninth appearance at the competition, and their best finish is third place in 2022, when they beat Germany on penalties in India to win the third-place play-off.
