Nigeria U17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, stunned defending champions DPR Korea with a 3–1 victory in their final Group B fixture to reach the Round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, www.aclsports.com reports.
The Flamingos scored twice before half-time and added a third shortly after the restart, while DPR Korea pulled one back through a late penalty at Pitch 1 of the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Morocco.
Head coach Akeem Busari made one change to the side that defeated Puerto Rico 2–0, handing Oluebube Umejiaku a starting place while captain Harmony Chidi began on the bench.
Oluwakemi Adegbuyi opened the scoring in the 15th minute, collecting Mary Dunstan’s pass before holding off her marker and calmly slotting the ball past goalkeeper Kim Son Gyong to register her second goal of the tournament. Nigeria doubled their lead in the 38th minute when Tosin Rafiu delivered a precise pass to Oluebube Umejiaku, who kept her composure before firing past Kim Son Gyong.
The Flamingos carried their two-goal advantage into the break before Kanyinsola Yusuf curled home a superb free-kick in the 56th minute to extend Nigeria’s lead to 3–0 and score her second goal of the tournament.
DPR Korea pulled a goal back in the 82nd minute through Yu Jong Hyang’s penalty. Adegbuyi later appeared to have completed her brace, but after the goal was initially ruled out for offside, a video review led the referee to disallow the effort for a foul in the build-up.
Busari introduced Awawu Bashiru for Mary Dunstan in the 65th minute before bringing on Precious Oscar for Queen Joseph in the 84th minute as the Flamingos held on to seal the victory, finish the group stage with six points and advance to the knockout stage.
The result also ended DPR Korea’s unbeaten run in regular time at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which had lasted since their 4–1 defeat to Germany on 14 November 2018.
Image: FIFA
