Nigeria became the first team from the continent to reach a FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup final on Wednesday, advancing with a 3-1 semifinal victory over Brazil in Morocco. The result came 41 years after Nigeria’s men’s under-17 side reached a World Cup final.
Queen Joseph opened the scoring after a miscued shot from Kemi Adegboye was parried into her path, and Awawu Bashiru struck twice in the second half to seal the win. Bashiru’s second-half goals included a curling effort in the 71st minute “almost from the corner flag” and a close-range finish nine minutes later. Greise Kelly pulled one back for Brazil in the 89th minute, but Nigeria held on to progress to the championship game.
Nigeria will face Japan in the final on Saturday. “We know we have a medal guaranteed by winning the semifinal, but the trophy is the major thing,” Nigeria coach Hakeem Busari said. “Our country wants it, we want it as well, we just need to fight.”
Bashiru’s two goals rewarded Busari’s decision to bring her into the starting lineup in place of Tosin Rafiu, his only change from the side that beat Venezuela in the quarterfinals. The Morocco victory was Nigeria’s fifth straight after an opening 2-1 loss to Poland; they then beat Puerto Rico 2-0 (Adegbuyi opening, substitute Precious Oscar adding the second), defeated two-time defending champions North Korea 3-1 to reach the knockout stage, and beat Mexico 2-1 in the round of 16 through goals from Oluebube Umejiaku and Mary Dunstan. Venezuela required an 89th-minute penalty converted by captain Azeezat Oduntan to settle the quarterfinal 1-0.
The semifinal marked only the Flamingos’ second appearance at this stage. Their first came in India in 2022, when they beat the United States on penalties in the quarterfinals, lost a shootout to Colombia in the semifinals and recovered to claim bronze against Germany after a 3-3 draw and a 3-2 shootout win. Japan, Nigeria’s final opponents, won the tournament in 2014 and reached their first final since 2016 by eliminating North Korea on Wednesday after a stoppage-time own goal forced a 1-1 draw and Japan won the subsequent shootout 4-1.
