On October 29, the Nigerian “Flamingos” team will face Mexico in the 1/8 final stage of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Championship. The pairing was confirmed when Mexico finished second in Group F on Sunday. A game solves that. The match will start at 15:00 local time on the 2nd pitch of Mohammed VI Football Academy in Sale.
It is 4pm in Lagos. Morocco returned to GMT on September 20, so the host nation sits one hour behind Nigeria.
Mexico sealed second place with a 1-0 win over Australia through Citlalli Reyes in the 35th minute. Their campaign began with a 2-0 defeat to Spain, who won all three of their games to top the group. Then there was a 3-1 comeback against Chile, where Nicole Jiménez, Reyes and Mia Urbano scored after Catalina Muñoz put the South Americans ahead. That left Mexico with six points from a goal and they came in as 2025 bronze medalists.
How did flamingos get here?
Akeem Busari’s team finished second in their group with 6 points. Group B ended in a three-way tie at the top: North Korea finished first on goal difference with a 13-4 record, Nigeria second with 6-3, and Poland, who beat the Flamingos 2-1 in their opening match, third.
Recovery came quickly. He had to. A 2-0 win over Puerto Rico kept the campaign alive and a 3-1 win against North Korea confirmed their place in the play-offs.
Busari did not celebrate for a long time. After the North Korea game, he told FIFA that “the matches will be more difficult,” adding: “We have to make sure we don’t get complacent.”
He was right on the draw. Mexico is not a soft choice.
What it means for Nigeria
The two countries have met once before at this level. At the 2014 tournament in Costa Rica, Nigeria defeated Mexico 3-0 in the Group D decider at the Estadio Nacional in San Jose, with Rasheedat Ajibade, Uchenna Kanu and Aminat Yakubu both sides having already qualified for the quarter-finals on the day.
Twelve years later, the stakes are simpler. Lose and the Flamingos return home. Winners will face Germany’s winners Venezuela, who face Wednesday in Sale, in the quarter-finals on Sunday 1 November at 18:00 local time.
Nigeria are not the only African side with work to do this week. Ghana face Argentina, hosts Morocco face North Korea and Kenya face Japan, so the continent has 4 teams to reach the last eight. The flamingos, who won the bronze medal in India in 2022, have the record to lead this group. Mexico will test it. They scored four goals and conceded three goals in three games. Their only defeat was against the group winners. Busari’s young side will need the same control they showed against North Korea rather than repeating Poland’s first defeat.
The match on Thursday is a straight knockout. Additional time and penalties are given if necessary.
This article was last revised and updated 13 seconds ago