Nigeria’s Flamingos have secured their place at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup after defeating Benin Republic 8-5 on aggregate in the final round of the African qualifiers, Footynaija reports.
The Nigerian girls completed the job with an exciting 5-3 victory in the second leg at the Stade de Kégué in Lomé, Togo, after winning the first leg 3-2 in Ikenne a week earlier.
The match was full of goals from the start. Mark Akpan Dunstan gave Nigeria an early lead in the sixth minute before Romaine Gandonou equalised for Benin five minutes later. Esther Enne Stephen restored Nigeria’s advantage in the 15th minute, while Queen Joseph scored in the 19th minute to make it 3-1 before halftime. Joseph added another from the penalty spot in the 54th minute, but Benin fought back through Hermionne Lokossou and Gandonou to reduce the score to 4-3.
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With the game becoming tense, Joseph completed her hat-trick in the 76th minute to seal a deserved 5-3 win and book Nigeria’s ticket to Morocco, where the tournament will take place from October 17 to November 7.
After the game, head coach Akeem Busari praised his players but admitted Benin made life difficult throughout the two-legged tie.
“From day one when we played the first leg, it was not an easy match, they showed character, they proved difficult to beat. There will always be mistakes in the game, which we capitalised on. They are a very good side as well,” Busari said.
The coach also explained why his team came out on top.
“We were able to subdue them because we played to our own strength. Our style was difficult for them because we came all out to do man-marking instead of zonal marking.”
The Flamingos extended another impressive qualifying campaign after earlier beating Guinea 11-0 on aggregate. They will now prepare to represent Nigeria on the world stage in Morocco with hopes of another strong performance.
