Morocco 2025: Motivated Flamingos set to grab World Cup ticket in Blida

Posted : 24 April 2025

Nigeria’s U-17 girls, the Flamingos, are determined and ready to secure a ticket for the country’s eighth appearance at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, despite the predictably cold atmosphere at the Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida (outside Algiers) on Friday night.

Friday’s encounter against their Algerian counterparts is the final leg of the qualification round, with the Flamingos—bronze medalists from the 2022 finals in India and quarter-finalists from the last edition in the Dominican Republic—holding a 4-0 first-leg advantage.

The Fédération Algérienne de Football (FAF) has scheduled the match to kick off at 8:00 PM, a time when the winds will begin to blow stronger from the Mediterranean Sea.

However, the Flamingos, who arrived in Algiers in the early hours of Wednesday aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul, are highly motivated by the prospect of another FIFA World Cup ticket, as well as the potential for further financial rewards from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and billionaire businessman Kunle Soname.

Soname gifted the young players and their officials a sum of N4 million (one million naira for each goal) following their commanding win over the North Africans at the Remo Stars Stadium on Saturday, while the NFF awarded N2 million (five hundred thousand naira for each goal).

Both the President of the NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, and Hon. Soname have confirmed that the same financial incentives are in place for the second leg in Blida on Friday.

“Our objective is clear – to win the FIFA World Cup ticket. That is the big motivation. Yet, we have been further incentivized by the monetary rewards. My girls will give it their all on Friday night,” said Head Coach Bankole Olowookere.

Olowookere, who led the Flamingos to their last two World Cup appearances, will likely rely on first-leg two-goal heroine Queen Joseph, lone goal scorer Zainab Raji, and Kaosarat Olanrewaju to start in the attack, with Shakirat Moshood, Muinat Rotimi, and Philomena Isaiah providing support from the midfield. Goalkeeper and captain Christiana Uzoma, along with defenders Azeezat Oduntan, Hannah Ibrahim, Christiana Sunday, and Jumai Adebayo, are also expected to start.

The Confederation of African Football has appointed Cameroonian official Marie Noelle Etong as the referee, with her compatriots Marcelle Teikeu and Innocentia Ntangti as assistant referee 1 and fourth official, respectively. Chadian Ngarassoum Victorine will serve as assistant referee 2.

Oumou Souleymane Kane from Mauritania will be the commissioner, and Sabelo Maphosa-Sibindi from Zimbabwe will act as the referee assessor.

Morocco 2025: Motivated Flamingos set to grab World Cup ticket in Blida

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