Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, delivered a scintillating performance on Saturday evening, cruising to a 4-0 victory over Algeria in the first leg of their final qualifying round for the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. The match, played at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, showcased the young Nigerian side’s hunger, flair, and clinical finishing.
Forward Queen Joseph was the star of the night, bagging a brace, while Zainab Oluwaseun Raji and Aishat Animashaun added their names to the scoresheet with well-taken goals.
The hosts wasted no time asserting their dominance, with Joseph opening the scoring inside the first minute. Latching onto a low cross in the box, she calmly slotted home to give Nigeria an early advantage and unsettle the Algerian side.
The pressure continued to mount, and in the 13th minute, Raji made it 2-0 after connecting with a clever attacking sequence to finish from close range. Just four minutes later, Joseph doubled her tally with a spectacular strike from 25 yards out. Her long-range effort beat the Algerian goalkeeper and cannoned off the crossbar into the net—drawing loud cheers from the home crowd.
In the second half, Algeria tried to find their rhythm and keep the scoreline respectable. But the Flamingos were far from done. Aishat Animashaun added the final flourish with a beautiful curling effort from the edge of the box, sealing a convincing 4-0 win for the home side.
With this commanding victory, Nigeria heads into the return leg on April 25 at the Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida with a clear advantage. The aggregate winner will book a ticket to the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
Having reached the quarterfinals at the last edition in the Dominican Republic, the Flamingos are now just one step away from making back-to-back global appearances—and their performance in Ikenne signals they mean serious business.
