Nigeria's U17 girls football team, the Flamingos, flew back to their Ikenne-Remo base on Sunday after thrashing Guinea 5-0 in the first leg of their FIFA U17 Women's World Cup qualifier in Abidjan.
The delegation departed Côte d'Ivoire at 9:35am on ASKY Airlines and touched down in Lomé, Togo an hour later before continuing to Nigeria. The team arrived at their training camp just after midnight, their emphatic away victory already putting them on the brink of qualification for the 2026 tournament in Morocco.
Guinea will travel to Ikenne-Remo on Sunday, May 30, for the second leg at the Remo Stars Stadium with almost no realistic path back into the tie. The five-goal defeat from the first match means the West African neighbours would need an extraordinary turnaround to overturn the deficit, and the Flamingos have rarely shown mercy in this competition.
Nigeria's U17 girls won the World Cup bronze medal in 2022 and have built a strong pedigree in youth football competitions across Africa. The home advantage for the return leg should help the Flamingos finish the job efficiently, though coach Bankole Olowu will likely keep the team sharp and focused to avoid any surprises. Qualification to Morocco 2026 would represent another significant achievement for a programme that continues to produce talented young players for the senior national team.
