Nigeria U17 women’s team head coach, Akeem Busari, says the Flamingos are steadily improving and ready to face Guinea in the first leg of their 2026 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup second-round qualifier, www.aclsports.com reports.
The Flamingos will face Guinea at the Stade Félix-Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan on Saturday, 23 May, with kick-off scheduled for 5pm Nigeria time.
Speaking ahead of the encounter, Busari said the team is making steady progress in camp as preparations continue.
“It’s a game after a game and this is going to be our first game in the second round,” he said.
“Work is still in progress because the girls we are working with are improving in their knowledge and they really want to learn more. It’s going to be a gradual process in terms of bringing them from the unknown to the known. Their mindset is very open because they want to learn new things.”
As part of preparations, the team has played friendly matches aimed at improving endurance, physicality and tactical awareness.
“We played boys to really increase their endurance and we played with the feminine gender too,” Busari explained.
“When we played the boys, they tried to muscle them, which helped us work on balance, coordination on and off the ball. There have been a lot of improvements and corrections within training and after games.
“The girls are beginning to understand what we need to do when we have the ball, running into space, taking opponents one against one and building group cohesion, and things are really working well in camp.”
Busari also acknowledged the psychological pressure that can come with a major qualifier.
“For humans at their level, there will always be feelings like that,” he said, “but with our experience as handlers, we try to talk to them individually and in groups. The major thing is for them to be calm. When you are calm, you’ll be able to make precise decisions with or without the ball, understand your teammates and read the opponent well.”
The Flamingos coach added that Guinea’s physical strength will be a key challenge, saying, “What we’ve seen from them is their physicality. They are strong on the ball in terms of endurance and stability. They have good kickers in the team and they won most of their duels against Niger Republic.”
“If we can reduce the number of duels and move the ball quickly with quality passing, we can get something out of the game.”
Team captain Harmony Chidi also expressed confidence in the team’s spirit ahead of the encounter, describing the camp atmosphere as positive and unified.
“First and foremost, I want to thank God for the gift of life and for the level He has brought us to,” Chidi said. “The mood has been good, joyful, happy and prepared.”
“The coordination and the love is massive. We play like sisters at home. Nobody is carrying shoulders or acting like the senior player. There is unity and love among us.”
Beyond the Guinea qualifier, the Flamingos are chasing one of Africa’s four tickets to the 2026 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, with Morocco already qualified as hosts.
The draw was held Thursday at FIFA headquarters in Zürich, grouping the 24 teams, with Africa’s remaining qualification slots to be decided through Groups B–E.
Group A: Morocco, New Zealand, Germany, Argentina
Group B: Korea DPR, Puerto Rico, Poland, CAF 1
Group C: Canada, Brazil, Norway, CAF 2
Group D: Japan, CAF 3, France, Venezuela
Group E: USA, Samoa, CAF 4, China PR
Group F: Spain, Mexico, Australia, Chile
