Tinubu hails Flamingos’ historic U-17 World Cup victory

Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, defeated Japan 2-1 on Saturday to win the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco. Awawu Bashiru opened the scoring in the 39th minute, followed by a goal from Oluebube Umejiaku in the 47th minute. Japan scored one goal through Fuki Ito in the 80th minute. With this victory, Nigeria became the first African country to win the tournament and the first to claim titles in both the men’s and women’s U-17 categories.

President Bola Tinubu congratulated the team following the historic win. According to Punch Nigeria, 16-year-old forward Oluebube Umejiaku, who plays for Heartland Queens, was named the tournament's best player, winning the Golden Ball. Umejiaku scored three goals and provided two assists throughout the campaign, including contributing to goals in all seven of Nigeria's matches. Her tournament performances included scoring against Poland, DPR Korea, and Mexico, as well as providing assists against Puerto Rico and Brazil.

The Flamingos' championship run included an opening defeat to Poland before recovering to win the tournament. Umejiaku also won a penalty during Nigeria's quarter-final match against Venezuela.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch, Punch Nigeria, Premium Times — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.