Flamingos Of Nigeria Beat Benin To Seal 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Ticket

Nigeria’s Flamingos have booked their place at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup after defeating Benin Republic 5-3 in a pulsating second-leg qualifier in Lomé, Togo, to complete an 8-5 aggregate win.

The result earned the Flamingos one of Africa’s qualification spots for the tournament, which will be staged in Morocco later this year.

Nigeria travelled to the Stade de Kégué with a slender 3-2 advantage from the first leg in Ikenne, where they had to recover from an early setback before claiming victory.

Benin silenced the home fans through Romaine Gandonou, but Queen Joseph restored parity with a header. Oluwakemi Adegbuyi fired the Flamingos in front after the interval before Nazifatou Dangui made it 2-2. Kindness Ifeanyi then scored the winner late on to hand Nigeria a crucial first-leg lead.

The return fixture followed a similarly dramatic pattern, with both sides producing an entertaining game.

Mary Akpan Dunstan gave Nigeria the perfect start, scoring after just six minutes, while Esther Enne Stephen doubled the advantage eight minutes later.

Joseph was again the star of the show. The forward completed a superb hat-trick with goals in the 20th, 54th and 75th minutes to put the tie beyond Benin’s reach.

Gandonou continued to trouble the Nigerian defence, scoring twice in the ninth and 64th minutes, while Hermionne Lokossou also found the net for Benin in the 56th minute. Despite the spirited response, the Flamingos remained in control and comfortably saw out the match.

The victory sends Nigeria to the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, scheduled to take place in Morocco from October 17 to November 7.

The Flamingos will join hosts Morocco among Africa’s representatives at the expanded 24-team tournament, with the continent set to have five participants.