A late penalty from Azeezat Oduntan earned Nigeria’s Flamingos a hardfought 1-0 win over Venezuela in the quarterfinal of the FIFA U-17 women’s World Cup in Morocco, completesports.com reports.

This is the second time in four years the Flamingos will reach the semifinals after finishing third and winning bronze at the 2022 edition in India.

It was a tight, tactical battle between two teams who had both pulled off upsets in the Round of 16.

While Venezuela came into the game after eliminating reigning European champions Germany, the Flamingos defeated knocked out Mexico 2-1.

The Flamingos dominated possession and created the better chances but were frustrated by a resilient Venezuelan defence led by captain Valeria Rebanales.

The deadlock was finally broken as the Flamingos won a penalty which Oduntan and converted from the spot in the 89th minute to take a dramatic 1-0 lead.

Venezuela pushed hard for an equalizer in stoppage time, but Coach Bankole Olowookere’s girls held on resolutely to secure a famous victory.

The Flamingos’ journey has been one of resilience. They opened their campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Poland before recording victories against Puerto Rico (2-0) and defending champions North Korea (3-1) in the group stage and a 2-1 win over Mexico in the round of 16.

The coach Akeem Busari side will now face Brazil in the semi-final on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Brazil booked their spot after coming from behind to beat China 2-1, with Helena Sampaio scoring twice in the 47th and 87th minute.

MATCH STATISTICS

Nigeria 1-0 Venezuela

Goal Scorer

Nigeria : Azeezat Oduntan (89th min, pen)

NIGERIA LINEUP

1. Jane Ijirigho

3. Azeezat Oduntan (C)

5. Ohunene Sunday

13. Esther Stephen

19. Kanyinsola Yusuf

8. Mary Dunstan

10. Favour Nkwocha

12. Tosin Rafiu

7. Queen Joseph

14. Oluwakemi Adegbuyi

17. Oluebube Umejiaku

SUBSTITUTIONS

Precious Oscar (Oluwakemi Adegbuyi, 57 min)

HEAD COACH: Akeem Busari

VENEZUELA LINEUP

12. Valeria Rebanales

3. Karla Alfonzo

4. Dariana Medina

6. Abril Alejo

15. Antonella Carmona

5. Migleydys Bolsegui

7. Juneski Flores

8. Astrid GRANADILLO Granadillo

14. Ariana Ojeda

9. Diana Bravo

10. Andrea Suarez

SUBSTITUTIONS

Mariangeles Avila (Antonella Carmona, 90+1 min)

Natalia Bermudez(Ariana Ojeda, 67 min)

Orliany Duran (Diana Bravo, 67 min)

Anabella FIGUEREDO (Andrea Suarez, 81 min)