Flamingos cruise into Round of 16 with 4–0 thrashing of Samoa

Nigeria reached the Round of 16 at this year’s FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup finals in Morocco after a dominant performance earned them a 4-0 win over Samoa in Rabat.

Queen Joseph hit a brace to take her tournament tally to three, while captain Shakirat Moshood scored from the penalty spot, and defender Azeezat Oduntan netted a sweet strike straight from the wing.

The Flamingos knew they needed a high-margin win to reach the knockout rounds after a 1-4 defeat to Canada on the opening day and a narrow 1-0 loss to France three days ago. They went about the task with determination and were on the scoresheet after only 13 minutes when Joseph latched on to a fine pass from Moshood and lifted the ball beyond goalkeeper Grace Ae.

Ae was in the right place three minutes later to push away a decent effort from Chisom Nwachukwu, but she was sent the wrong way by Moshood from six yards in the 27th minute after defender Holly Leapai handled the ball in the box from a corner.

The Flamingos continued to search for more goals, and in the 36th minute, Nguemo Terlumun — a constant thorn in the Samoan defence — danced past the rearguard and crossed for Joseph, who slotted home Nigeria’s third.

In the 44th minute, a brilliant exchange of passes between Joseph and Mariam Yahaya left the latter one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but her shot was parried away.

The Flamingos thought they would be 4-0 up only 32 seconds into the second half, but Moshood’s effort from the penalty spot was well-read by Ae after Terlumun was fouled.

The fourth goal finally arrived in the 67th minute, with Oduntan scoring from a well-placed cross, either side of two brilliant saves by Nigeria’s goalkeeper Sylvia Echefu.

The victory was enough to see the Flamingos — bronze medallists at the 2022 finals hosted by India — advance to the Round of 16.