Forty one years after Nigeria men's under-17 team made history by becoming the first team from the country and Africa to reach a FIFA World Cup final, the women's team have done the same by becoming the continent's first to reach a FIFA Women's World Cup final.
The Flamingoes made history by reaching the FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup final for the first time on Wednesday with a 3-1 win over Brazil in Morocco.
Queen Joseph opened the scoring before Awawu Bashiru struck twice, all in the second half, before some wayward defending allowed Brazil a consolation goal with time running out. The win took the Flamingos to the championship game and beyond their previous best finish of third place in 2022 and set up a final against Japan on Saturday.
"We know we have a medal guaranteed by winning the semifinal, but the trophy is the major thing," Nigeria coach Hakeem Busari said. "Our country wants it, we want it as well, we just need to fight."
Joseph found herself on the end of a miscued shot from Kemi Adegboye and made no mistake from close range as she put the Flamingos ahead. Bashiru doubled their advantage in the 71st minute with a curling effort almost from the corner flag before applying the coup de grâce nine minutes later, this time from close range. Greise Kelly pulled a goal back in the 89th, but Nigeria held on to secure their place in the final.
"When your team are having chances of this nature, what you normally look at as a coach is for them to compose themselves to bury one of the chances, because it's a game of knockouts. I knew immediately we buried one, we would have more opportunities going in," Busari said.
Bashiru's two goals rewarded Busari's decision to bring her into the starting lineup in the place of Tosin Rafiu - his only change from the team that defeated Venezuela in the quarterfinals.
The victory was Nigeria's fifth in succession after an opening 2-1 defeat to Poland. They recovered to beat Puerto Rico 2-0, with Adegbuyi opening the scoring and substitute Precious Oscar adding the second, before defeating two-time defending champions North Korea 3-1 to reach the knockout stage.
Goals from Oluebube Umejiaku and Mary Dunstan then secured a 2-1 victory over Mexico in the round of 16. Venezuela proved tougher in the quarterfinals, and it took captain Azeezat Oduntan converting an 89th-minute penalty to settle the contest 1-0.
That took Nigeria into the semifinals for only the second time. Their first appearance came in India in 2022, when Bankole Olowookere's team defeated the United States on penalties in the quarterfinals before losing a shootout to Colombia in the last four.
The Flamingos recovered to claim bronze against Germany. After surrendering a three-goal lead to draw 3-3, Nigeria won the shootout 3-2 to secure their first medal at that tournament.
Earlier exits followed at the next two editions. The United States beat Nigeria 2-0 in the 2024 quarterfinals, while Italy eliminated them 4-0 in the round of 16 in Morocco last year.
Busari's team have now surpassed that bronze medal finish, but their final opponents will bring title-winning experience. Japan won the competition in 2014 and reached their first final since 2016 by eliminating North Korea on Wednesday. A stoppage-time own goal rescued a 1-1 draw before Japan won the shootout 4-1.
"It's just for us to tell the players that it's still one game at a time," Busari said. "We are playing Japan, it's another different ball game, another different character.
"It is just for us to concentrate, and let's put the icing on the cake, let's focus, and finish up the job, because the job is not yet done."