Japan vs Nigeria Preview: Flamingos chase historic U-17 Women’s World Cup glory in Morocco

Nigeria faces Japan in the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup final this Saturday at Pitch 3 of the Complexe Mohammed VI in Rabat, Morocco. According to Punch Nigeria, a victory would make Nigeria the first African nation to win FIFA World Cup titles in both the men’s and women’s U-17 categories. Premium Times describes the match as a contest between a nation seeking its first crown and a former champion looking to add another trophy.

The Nigerian Flamingos reached the final after defeating Brazil 3-1 in the semi-finals, a match in which they recorded 30 shots on goal. Their tournament progress included victories over Korea DPR, Mexico, and Venezuela, following an initial 2-1 loss to Poland and a win against Puerto Rico. Nigeria has scored 12 goals so far, distributed among eight players: Oluebube Umejiaku has three, Awawu Bashiru and Oluwakemi Adegbuyi have two each, and Kanyinsola Yusuf, Queen Joseph, Mary Dunstan, Precious Oscar, and Azeezat Oduntan have one each.

Punch Nigeria notes that Azeezat Oduntan was named captain following the benching of Harmony Chidi. During the quarter-final against Venezuela, Oduntan scored a penalty with one minute remaining. Additionally, Bashiru moved into the starting lineup after previously playing 73 minutes as a substitute.

Brief written by urgent.news from Premium Times, Punch Nigeria — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.