A 3-0 friendly win is never the headline. What it confirms, two weeks before the most important fixture of these girls’ young careers, is that the sharpness is still there.
Want our football coverage to show up first?
Add FootballInNigeria as a preferred source and our stories get a "Preferred" badge in your Google Top Stories, AI Overviews, and AI Mode results.
Nigeria’s Flamingos defeated Dream Star Ladies 3-0 in a friendly at the Remo Stars Sports Complex in Ikenne on Saturday, their first preparation match since arriving in camp for the final round of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, as reported by FootballInNigeria.com.ng. Mary Dunstan opened the scoring in the 24th minute before Queen Joseph and Oluwakemi Adegbuyi added second half goals to seal the win for Akeem Busari’s side.
The result, while only a warm-up fixture, carries genuine significance given what awaits Nigeria in less than two weeks. The Flamingos will host Benin Republic’s Young Amazons in the first leg of their decisive World Cup qualifying tie at the same Remo Stars venue on Saturday, 4 July, before travelling to the Stade de Kegue in Lome for the return fixture one week later.
A Group Still Finding Its Final Sharpness
This friendly win continues a pattern of strong attacking form that has defined the Flamingos’ qualifying campaign so far. The squad has scored 21 goals across four preparatory matches in the build up to this camp, including 7-0 and 6-0 results in earlier friendlies, evidence of a side that, under Busari’s relatively short tenure, has developed real attacking cohesion. The 3-0 win over Dream Star Ladies adds another data point to that trend, even if Busari himself has been careful not to let any of these results breed overconfidence.
That caution is rooted in hard-earned context. Busari has repeatedly reminded his players that the emphatic scorelines racked up earlier in the campaign, including an 11-0 aggregate demolition of Guinea in the second qualifying round, count for nothing once the Benin Republic tie begins. He has described the Young Amazons as a well organised, goal scoring side deserving of real respect, an assessment grounded in Benin’s own 5-1 aggregate win over Sierra Leone to reach this stage.
Fans following the Flamingos’ World Cup qualifying campaign can check the YOHAIG promo code ahead of the first leg on July 4.
What Stands Between Nigeria and Morocco
The stakes attached to this two-legged tie are considerable. The winner on aggregate secures one of Africa’s four places at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which will be hosted in Morocco from 17 October to 7 November, the first time the tournament has been staged on African soil. Nigeria have appeared at eight editions of the competition since their debut in 2008 and reached the semi finals in 2022 in India, finishing third for the Flamingos’ best ever result at the tournament.
Reaching Morocco would extend that record of consistency and offer this generation of players the kind of global exposure that has historically fed directly into the Super Falcons pipeline. Several current Super Falcons internationals first wore the green and white at U-17 level, making qualification significant well beyond this single tournament cycle.
Supporters who want to follow the Flamingos’ qualifying push can check the Bet9ja’s current promo code ahead of the July fixtures.
The Squad Busari Is Building Around
The goalscorers from Saturday’s friendly reflect the depth Busari has cultivated since taking charge in April. Oluwakemi Adegbuyi, who has been one of the standout performers of the qualifying campaign, found the net again here, adding to a tally that already included a brace in the second leg against Guinea. Queen Joseph has also been a consistent attacking contributor throughout the campaign, while captain Harmony Chidi remains the most prolific individual performer in the squad, having scored five goals across the two legs against Guinea alone.
Busari, who holds a CAF A licence and was appointed Flamingos head coach in April 2026, has spoken consistently about his coaching priorities centring on team cohesion, tactical discipline and player development rather than chasing scorelines for their own sake. That philosophy has produced a side capable of both ruthless attacking football and, based on Busari’s public comments, an awareness that the toughest test of the campaign is still to come.
For now, the Flamingos head into their final preparation week with confidence intact and a clear understanding of what’s required. Getting the first leg right in front of a home crowd at Ikenne, then managing the away leg in Lome with composure, is exactly the template that gave Nigeria’s bronze medal winning squad their platform in 2022. Whether this group can follow that path to Morocco will be decided over the next fortnight.
Fans who want to follow the Flamingos’ qualifying campaign and Nigeria’s road to Morocco can find a useful breakdown at this Bet9ja promo code today guide ahead of the July 4 first leg.
📌 Did You Know?
- Nigeria’s Flamingos finished third at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India, their best ever result at the tournament and one of only three African nations to have ever reached the semi finals of the competition.
- The 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco will be the first edition of the tournament ever hosted on African soil, adding extra significance to every African qualifying tie this summer.
- Africa has four total slots available at the 2026 tournament, with the other three final-round qualifying ties seeing Senegal face Ghana, Zambia take on Ethiopia, and South Africa meet Kenya.
- Should the Flamingos qualify, they are pencilled in as CAF Slot 1 in Group B at the World Cup, where defending champions North Korea, along with Poland and Puerto Rico, are already confirmed opponents.
- Akeem Busari was appointed Flamingos head coach on 2 April 2026 and holds a CAF A coaching licence, taking charge of a squad his federation has tasked with ending Nigeria’s wait for another World Cup appearance at this age grade.
- Benin Republic’s captain Romaine Gandonou scored from a direct free kick in their qualifying win over Sierra Leone, a player Nigeria’s defence will need to track closely across both legs of the upcoming tie.
- Nigeria’s Flamingos have appeared at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup eight times since the tournament’s inception in 2008, making them one of the most consistent African qualifiers in the competition’s history.
