Queen Joseph, Oluwakemi Adegbuyi and Kindness Ifeanyi were on target as Nigeria overcame the young Amazons in Ikenne.
Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, took a significant step towards securing a place at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup after defeating the Republic of Benin 3-2 in the first leg of their final qualifying round encounter at the Remo Stars Stadium, Ikenne, on Saturday.
The victory gives the Flamingos a narrow but valuable advantage ahead of the decisive second leg as they continue their quest to qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
The visitors shocked the home supporters in the 16th minute when Romaine Gandonou embarked on an impressive solo run before calmly finishing past the Nigerian goalkeeper to hand Benin Republic a 1-0 lead.
Nigeria responded positively and found the equaliser nine minutes later. Queen Joseph rose above the Benin defence to head home from a well-delivered cross in the 25th minute, bringing the Flamingos level and restoring confidence to the hosts.
The Flamingos returned from the break with greater intensity and deservedly took the lead in the 62nd minute. After Kindness Ifeanyi’s initial effort was saved by the Benin goalkeeper, Oluwakemi Adegbuyi reacted quickest to slot home the rebound and make it 2-1.
Benin, however, refused to surrender and pulled themselves back into the contest when Nazifatou Dangui found the back of the net to level the scores at 2-2, setting up a tense finish in Ikenne.
With the game delicately poised, Nigeria found the decisive breakthrough in the 75th minute. Kindness Ifeanyi capped an impressive individual performance by reacting sharply inside the penalty area to fire home the winner, ensuring the Flamingos claimed a hard-earned 3-2 victory.
The result places Nigeria in a favourable position ahead of the return leg, where the seven-time FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup participants will look to complete the task and secure qualification for the 2026 tournament in Morocco.
The Flamingos have established themselves as one of Africa’s leading youth women’s teams in recent years, highlighted by their historic third-place finish at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. They will now be aiming to maintain that pedigree by booking another appearance on the global stage.
Nigeria will travel into the second leg knowing that another disciplined performance against the young Amazons of Benin will be enough to keep their dream of competing at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco alive.