After a 4-1 win away from home in the first leg, Nigeria’s U17 girls, Flamingos, are keen to conclude their FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualification race on a high as they host their counterparts from Liberia at the MKO Abiola National Stadium on Friday evening.
Goals by the irrepressible Harmony Chidi, Peace Effiong, Shakirat Moshood, and substitute Blessing Ifitezue earned Nigeria a handsome first-leg win in Monrovia on Sunday, and only 90 minutes separate the 2022 bronze medallists from another appearance at the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, this time in the Dominican Republic.
Nigeria forward Harmony Chidi has been the stellar talent of this qualifying campaign globally, scoring 11 goals in five matches, with the possibility of adding to it at the MKO Abiola National Stadium on Friday.
The attacking potency of the Nigerian girls has been extraordinary, with a 12-0 aggregate win (6-0 in each leg) against Central African Republic in the second round, a 7-1 aggregate against Burkina Faso (1-1 and 6-0) in the third round, and a 4-1 routing of their hosts in Monrovia in the final round, first leg encounter.
Nigeria has missed only one edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals to date—the 2018 edition in Uruguay, for which Cameroon’s Baby Lionesses edged the Flamingos on the away-goal rule in the final round.
Saturday’s encounter, which is scheduled for 4 pm, will have Egyptian official Shahenda El-Maghrabi as the referee, with her compatriots May Ali Hassan, Gamalat Ahmed Shebli, and Noura Samir El-Sayed as assistant referee 1, assistant referee 2, and fourth official, respectively.
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Christine Ziga from Ghana will be the commissioner, while Tesfanesh Woreta Hailu from Ethiopia will serve as the referee assessor.
This year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals will be staged in Santiago de los Caballeros and Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, from 16 October to 3 November.
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