Akeem Busari’s side left no doubt about their attacking depth on Monday, running in eleven goals at the Remo Stars Stadium in their last rehearsal before the World Cup qualifying campaign reaches its decisive stage.
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Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, produced a ruthless attacking display on Monday to beat RoyalToms Queens 11-0 in a preparatory friendly at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, FootballInNigeria.com.ng reports. The result was the Flamingos’ second and final warm up match ahead of their decisive two-legged qualifying tie against Benin Republic’s Young Amazons, which will determine which side books a place at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
The Flamingos were in control from the opening minutes. Queen Joseph opened the scoring inside the third minute, Kindness Ifeanyi doubled the lead two minutes later, and by half-time the score stood at 4-0 with Mary Dunstan and Tobiloba Sarafa also on the sheet. The second half continued in the same vein. Captain Harmony Chidi stole the spotlight with a brilliant hat trick, scoring in the 63rd, 69th and 84th minutes to cap a dominant personal performance. Destiny Itobore, Precious Oscar, and Koasarat Olarenwaju completed the tally as Akeem Busari’s side finished the evening with their most emphatic pre-qualifier showing yet.
Flamingos fans who want to follow Nigeria’s two-legged qualifier against Benin Republic and back the team through both fixtures can check the Bet9ja promo code on the FootballInNigeria.com.ng Bet9ja page ahead of the July ties.
Full-Time Flamingos 11-0 RoyalToms Queens — Goalscorers
- Queen Joseph — 3′
- Kindness Ifeanyi — 5′, 50′
- Mary Dunstan — 26′
- Tobiloba Sarafa — 39′
- Harmony Chidi — 63′, 69′, 84′
- Destiny Itobore — 65′
- Precious Oscar — 66′
- Koasarat Olarenwaju — 86′
What This Camp Has Looked Like
Monday’s result follows Saturday’s 3-0 warm up win over Dream Star Ladies at the same Remo Stars venue, where Mary Dunstan, Queen Joseph and Oluwakemi Adegbuyi were on the scoresheet. Taken together, the Flamingos have scored 14 goals in two preparatory matches without conceding once. That is a statement of attacking intent and defensive discipline that Busari will carry into July’s first leg with real confidence.
This is not a squad discovering itself. These players were already battle hardened from earlier in the qualifying campaign. Nigeria entered the second round and crushed Guinea 11-0 on aggregate, winning 5-0 in Abidjan before sealing the job with a 6-0 home victory in Ikenne. Across the entire qualifying campaign to date, the Flamingos have scored 22 goals and conceded none. That is the form of a team that knows its system and executes it at pace.
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Benin Republic Are No Pushover
The Young Amazons, Nigeria’s next opponents, earned their place in the final qualifying round by beating Sierra Leone 5-1 on aggregate. They won the first leg 3-0 at the Stade de Kegue in Lome before closing it out with a 2-1 away victory. Their captain, Romaine Gandonou, has been one of the most dangerous players in the qualifying series, opening the scoring with a direct free kick against Sierra Leone in the first leg. She is the kind of player who can change a game in a single set piece moment, and the Flamingos’ defensive unit will need a plan for her across both fixtures.
The structure of the tie adds its own complexity. The first leg is set for July 4 at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, giving Nigeria the home advantage to build an aggregate lead. The return leg follows on July 11 in Benin Republic, where the hosts will back a partisan crowd to help them overhaul any deficit. Nigeria’s recent history in away qualifier legs has been solid, but closing out a two legged tie on the road against a motivated opponent is a different kind of pressure from putting eleven past a friendly opposition at a home venue.
Why This World Cup Matters for Nigerian Women’s Football
The 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will be held in Morocco from October 17 to November 7, making it the first time the tournament has been staged on African soil. Nigeria have appeared at eight previous editions of the competition since their debut in 2008 and reached the semi finals in India in 2022, finishing third in their best ever result at the tournament. Several current Super Falcons internationals first played for Nigeria at U-17 level, and the pipeline that runs from the Flamingos into the senior side has proven its value repeatedly. A place at the Morocco tournament gives this generation the same opportunity. Whether they take it against Benin Republic in two legs across July will define the next chapter in that story. Supporters who want to back Nigeria through both qualifiers and the potential tournament run can check the Bet9ja promo code for today before the first leg kicks off in Ikenne.
📌 Did You Know?
- Nigeria’s Flamingos have now scored 22 goals and conceded zero across their entire 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign before Monday’s friendly, having beaten Guinea 5-0 in Abidjan and 6-0 in Ikenne across the second round.
- The 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco will be the first edition of the tournament ever staged on African soil. Previous hosts have included Trinidad and Tobago, South Korea, Uruguay, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Costa Rica, Uruguay and India, but never an African nation.
- Harmony Chidi, the Flamingos captain and Monday’s hat-trick scorer, also netted a hat trick in the second round first leg against Guinea in Abidjan. She is now the standout individual performer of Nigeria’s entire qualifying campaign with multiple three-goal hauls.
- Akeem Busari was only appointed Flamingos head coach in April 2026, giving him fewer than three months to prepare this squad for a World Cup qualifying campaign. He holds a CAF A coaching licence and was previously involved with youth development structures in Nigerian football.
- Nigeria were given a bye directly into the second round of the 2026 U-17 Women’s World Cup African qualifiers, the only team on the continent to receive that status, recognising their consistency and ranking as one of Africa’s most established U-17 women’s football programmes.
- Benin Republic’s captain Romaine Gandonou scored directly from a free kick in their qualifying win over Sierra Leone, a set piece threat that makes her one of the most dangerous players the Flamingos will face in either leg of the final qualifying round.
- Nigeria’s best ever result at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup was a third place finish in India in 2022. The Flamingos reached the semi-finals and defeated Canada in the third place playoff to claim bronze, the highest finish in the tournament by any Nigerian women’s national team at any age group.
