Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, the Flamingos, will on Tuesday, October 20, face Puerto Rico in a crucial Group B encounter at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco, seeking to bounce back from their opening-match defeat to Poland.
The Flamingos lost 2–1 to Poland on Saturday despite a late fightback. Wiktoria Skrzypczak opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute, while Natalia Skrok doubled Poland’s lead in the 65th minute. Oluebube Umejiaku pulled one back for Nigeria in the 79th minute, but the Flamingos could not find an equaliser.
The defeat leaves Coach Akeem Busari and his players under pressure to secure maximum points against Puerto Rico to revive their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.
Nigeria will need to tighten their defence and improve their finishing while sustaining the attacking intent they displayed against Poland, with defending champions Korea DPR also posing a major challenge in Group B.
