Olowookere: Nigeria Flamingos are ready to take on the best at U-17 World Cup

Photo Credit - NFF Media.

Nigeria Flamingos head coach Bankole Olowookere has promised an improved performance from the team at the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.

This will be the ninth edition of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, the international tournament contested by U-17 women’s national teams of FIFA member associations. It will be the first time the tournament is held in Africa, and Morocco will become the second Arab country to host it after Jordan in 2016.

At the previous edition in the Dominican Republic, the Flamingos were eliminated in the quarter-finals. In the upcoming competition, the Flamingos have been drawn alongside France, Canada, and Samoa in the group stage.

“This is a tournament—a competition,” Olowookere told the Super Falcons Show, as quoted by CompleteSports. ““We need to compete with everyone, whether they’re weak or strong. That’s the only path to becoming a champion. No one hands you a trophy without a fight.”

“The journey began right after the last World Cup,” he added. “We took the lessons learned, tactical discipline, mental strength, and the importance of game management, and we’ve been working with those insights.

“Now, having played and qualified for this World Cup, which is essentially the second leg of the race, we are ready for the third and most crucial phase: the tournament itself.”

North Korea are the defending champions, having secured a record third title in 2024.