Flamingos Stun Defending Champions North Korea 3-1 To Reach 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Knockout Stage
Nigeria’s Flamingos produced a stunning performance to defeat defending champions North Korea 3-1 in their final Group B match at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco on Friday, securing their place in the knockout stage.
Goals from Oluwakemi Adegbuyi, Oluebube Umejiaku and Kanyinsola Yusuf powered the Nigerian girls to a memorable victory at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat, with the result taking their tally to six points from three matches.
The victory was particularly remarkable considering North Korea entered the encounter with a perfect record, having demolished Puerto Rico 6-0 and Poland 6-1 in their opening two matches.
Nigeria, however, showed little respect for their opponents’ formidable reputation and took control of the contest with an impressive first-half display.
Adegbuyi, who had also scored in Nigeria’s 2-0 victory over Puerto Rico, opened the scoring in the 15th minute to give the Flamingos a dream start.
Oluebube Umejiaku doubled Nigeria’s advantage in the 38th minute, putting the defending champions under serious pressure before the interval.
The Flamingos continued their impressive performance after the restart, with Kanyinsola Yusuf making it 3-0 in the 56th minute to put Nigeria firmly in command.
North Korea eventually pulled a goal back through Yu Jong Hyang, who converted a penalty in the 82nd minute, but the late effort proved insufficient to deny Nigeria a famous victory.
The result completed a remarkable turnaround for coach Akeem Busari’s side, who began their campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Poland before recovering to beat Puerto Rico 2-0.
Adegbuyi has now scored in successive matches, while Umejiaku has also registered two goals in the competition after finding the net against Poland.
North Korea, the two-time defending champions, had scored 12 goals in their first two matches and conceded only once before facing Nigeria.
Friday’s victory lifted the Flamingos to six points, level with North Korea, with the Asian champions retaining a superior goal difference.
Nigeria finished their three group matches with two victories, one defeat, seven goals scored and three conceded, giving them a goal difference of plus four.
The Flamingos will now await confirmation of their Round of 16 opponents as they seek to build on their impressive victory and continue their pursuit of a first FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup title.
