Four African teams, Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco and Kenya, have reached the knockout stage of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup for the first time, www.aclsports.com reports.
Nigeria and Ghana secured their places in the Round of 16 after finishing second in their respective groups, while Morocco and Kenya advanced as two of the four best third-placed teams. The four African sides have surpassed the continent’s previous best of three teams, recorded at the 2025 edition. Zambia, meanwhile, exited the competition after losing all three of their group matches.
The Flamingos responded to a 2–1 defeat to Poland in their Group B opener with a 2–0 victory over Puerto Rico before ending DPR Korea’s eight-year unbeaten run with a 3–1 win to secure qualification. Nigeria have now reached the knockout stage of the tournament on seven occasions.
Ghana bounced back from a 3–0 loss to Norway and a 3–3 draw with Brazil by defeating Canada 2–0 in their final Group C game to book a place in the Round of 16. The Black Maidens have now reached the tournament’s knockout stage for the fifth time.
Hosts Morocco opened their campaign with a 4–0 victory over New Zealand before suffering a 4–2 defeat to Germany and a 5–1 loss to Argentina. Despite the setbacks, the Atlas Lionesses advanced from Group A to the knockout stage for the second consecutive edition.
Kenya secured their first-ever place in the tournament’s knockout stage with a 4–0 win over Samoa in their final group match. The Junior Starlets had lost 3–0 to China PR and 6–1 to the United States in their opening games but recovered to finish third in Group E.
Zambia, who reached the Round of 16 in 2025, could not repeat that achievement. They lost 5–0 to Japan, suffered a 3–2 defeat to Venezuela and ended their campaign with a 1–0 loss to France.
Morocco will face defending champions DPR Korea on October 28, followed by Ghana, bronze medallists in 2012, who take on Argentina on the same day. On October 29, Nigeria, bronze medallists in 2022, will meet Mexico, while Kenya face Japan as the four African sides target places in the quarter-finals.
Image: FIFA
