The Flamingos’ U17 World Cup hopes ended after losing 4-0 in the Round of 16 game against Italy in Morocco.
Read Also
During the group stage games, Nigeria qualified for the R16 games, losing 1-4 to Canada, losing 0-1 to France and defeating Samoa 4-0 in the group games. Italy beat Brazil 4-3; beat hosts Morocco 3-1, and crushed Costa Rica 3-0, also at the group games.
The group stage games showed the flamingos lacked the strength to defeat Italy, who have had an unbeaten run since the opening of the tournament.
Nigeria had been to the tournament finals 7 times, getting the Bronze with a 3-2 win over Germany on penalties after 3-3 at full time at India 2022. She lost in the semifinal to Colombia5-6 on penalties after a goalless full-time. Nigeria got to the quarters three times at Azerbaijan 2012, Costa Rica 2014, and Dominican Republic 2024.
Italian girls are appearing at the U17 World Cup finals for the 2nd time. In 2014, in Costa Rica, the team won the bronze via 2-0 penalty shootouts after a 4-4 full-time against Venezuela. They had lost 0-2 to Spain in the semis, but Spain that year beat Nigeria 2-0 at the quarters.
The host country, Morocco, displayed poor performance against North Korea in a match ending 6-1.
