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Flamingos

Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, have officially secured their ticket to the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

The team sealed their qualification by defeating the Benin Republic 5-3 in a thrilling second-leg encounter at the Stade de Kégué in Lomé, Togo, wrapping up the tie with an impressive 8-5 aggregate victory.

The Flamingos entered the decisive away fixture holding a narrow 3-2 advantage from the first leg, which was played at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, Ogun State.

In that initial encounter, Benin temporarily stunned the home crowd with a solo goal from Romaine Gandonou.

However, strikes from Queen Joseph, Oluwakemi Adegbuyi, and a late match-winner by Kindness Ifeanyi ensured Nigeria carried a vital lead into the return leg, despite a spirited effort and a goal from Benin’s Nazifatou Dangui.

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During the return leg in Lomé, the Nigerian side produced another dominant attacking display to completely shut the door on their opponents.

Mary Akpan Dunstan opened the scoring just six minutes into the game, followed closely by a goal from Esther Enne Stephen in the 14th minute.

The undisputed star of the match was Queen Joseph, who delivered a spectacular hat-trick by finding the back of the net in the 20th, 54th, and 75th minutes.

Benin fought valiantly to stay in the game, with Gandonou scoring twice and Hermionne Lokossou adding another, but the Flamingos maintained their composure to clinch the definitive win.

With this aggregate triumph, Nigeria claims one of Africa’s four qualification slots for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

The upcoming tournament, which has been expanded to feature 24 nations, is scheduled to take place in Morocco from October 17 to November 7, 2026.

The Flamingos will proudly represent the continent on the global stage alongside the host nation, Morocco, bringing Africa’s total representation to five teams.