Nigeria head coach Akeem Busari praised his players for showing courage and determination after the Flamingos defeated defending champions North Korea 3-1 at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

The victory on Friday night secured Nigeria’s place in the Round of 16 and completed an impressive recovery from their 2-1 defeat by Poland in their opening match.

The Flamingos responded to that disappointment with a 2-0 win against Puerto Rico before producing their best performance of the tournament against a North Korea side that had scored 12 goals and conceded only once in its first two matches.

Busari said the result was made more significant by the strength of their opponents, whose record had made them clear favourites before kick-off.

“Everybody would have written Nigeria off, looking at Korea’s record and level of play. In two games, they scored 12 goals and conceded only one, while we won one and lost the other,” Busari said during his interaction with the media after the game.

The Nigeria coach also highlighted the mental challenge his players had faced after beginning the tournament with defeat.

North Korea had beaten Poland 6-1, while Poland had defeated Nigeria in their opening fixture. Busari said the Flamingos had needed to put that result behind them and rebuild their belief before facing the defending champions.

“The team we lost to also lost 6-1 to Korea. But we took our courage and let our girls see that Poland are not a team we need to lose to,” he said.

Busari added that the circumstances of the opening match had affected Nigeria’s confidence, but insisted the meeting with North Korea provided an opportunity to demonstrate the team’s ability.

“Being the first game in the tournament, we were not really up there psychologically. So this was a game we had to prove our point,” Busari added.

The 3-1 victory sends the Flamingos into the knockout stage after a group campaign that began with a setback but ended with consecutive wins.

Nigeria will play the runners-up from Group B in the Round of 16 in Sale on Thursday.