Nigeria’s Flamingos have booked a place in the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco after edging Mexico 2-1 in a fiercely contested Round of 16 encounter on Thursday.
Oluebube Umejiaku broke the deadlock in the 39th minute, capitalising on a defensive error to give Nigeria the lead.
Mary Dunstan extended the advantage in the 70th minute, reacting quickest to a rebound to put the Flamingos in a commanding position.
Mexico, however, reduced the deficit through Emily Delgado in added time, but the Nigerian girls held on to secure victory and progress to the last eight.
The win further highlights Nigeria’s impressive resurgence in the competition after losing their opening group match to Poland.
The Flamingos recovered with a 2-0 victory over Puerto Rico before defeating two-time defending champions North Korea 3-1 to seal qualification for the knockout stage.
Nigeria will now face Venezuela in the quarter-finals on Sunday, November 1, after the South Americans secured a 1-0 victory over Germany.
The Flamingos will be aiming to reach the semi-finals and improve on their third-place finish at the 2022 edition of the competition in India.
