Nigeria and Ghana have secured places in the Round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco, becoming the first African teams to confirm their progression to the knockout stage, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

The Flamingos sealed their qualification with an impressive 3-1 victory over defending champions Korea DPR in their final Group B match on Friday, while Ghana’s Black Maidens followed suit with a 2-0 win over Canada in their concluding Group C fixture on Saturday.

Nigeria produced one of their strongest performances of the tournament to overcome the two-time defending champions and finish the group stage with six points.

Oluwakemi Adegbuyi opened the scoring in the 15th minute before Oluebube Umejiaku doubled the advantage seven minutes before half-time.

Kanyinsola Yusuf extended Nigeria’s lead with a superb free-kick in the 56th minute, putting the Flamingos firmly in control. Korea DPR pulled one back through Yu Jong-hyang’s penalty in the 82nd minute, but the Nigerian side held on to claim a memorable victory.

The result confirmed Nigeria’s place in the last 16 after their opening 2-1 defeat to Poland and a subsequent 2-0 win over Puerto Rico.

Ghana also progressed after overcoming Canada in their final Group C encounter. Substitute Linda Achiaa broke the deadlock in the 64th minute, while Christiana Ashiaku added a second in stoppage time to secure the Black Maidens’ passage to the knockout rounds.

Ghana finished the group stage with four points after an opening 3-0 defeat to Norway and a 3-3 draw against Brazil before their decisive win over Canada.

The qualification of both countries offers an encouraging start for Africa at the tournament, which features five representatives from the continent: hosts Morocco, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia and Kenya.

With Nigeria and Ghana already through, attention will turn to the remaining African teams as they seek to join their continental rivals in the knockout stage.

Morocco, Zambia and Kenya will need favourable results in their respective groups to keep their campaigns alive, with the final group-stage matches determining the remaining qualifiers.

For Nigeria, the victory over Korea DPR will provide a significant confidence boost ahead of the Round of 16, where the Flamingos will aim to build on their impressive display and continue their pursuit of the title.

Ghana will also look to carry the momentum from their win over Canada into the knockout rounds as both teams seek to make a deeper run in Morocco.