THE Nigerian Flamingos finished fifth in the 2024 U-17 Women’s World Cup held in the Dominican Republic. With two matches left to conclude the tournament on Sunday, the team led by Bankole Olowookere earned 9 points, scoring 9 goals and conceding 3, making them the highest-ranked of the four teams that exited at the quarterfinals among the 16 teams in the competition.
Japan ranked 6th with 8 points, scoring 8 goals and conceding 4. Ecuador, Nigeria’s group stage opponent, placed 7th with 6 points, netting 6 goals and conceding 9, while Poland rounded out the top eight with 5 points, scoring 2 goals and allowing only 1.
Among the teams eliminated in the group stage, Brazil’s “Samba Girls” led the pack in 9th position, finishing with 4 points, 2 goals scored by Juju, and 2 goals conceded. Africa’s other representative, Kenya, ranked 10th with 3 points, scoring 2 goals and conceding 6. Colombia came 11th with 1 point, scoring 2 goals and conceding 5. Tournament hosts, the Dominican Republic, placed 12th, also with 1 point, having scored 1 goal and conceded 4.
New Zealand ranked 13th with 1 point, scoring 2 goals and conceding 9. South Korea had the highest goals conceded in the tournament—11—scoring only 1 goal with 1 point.
Two teams left without points were Mexico, in 15th position, scoring 4 goals and conceding 10, and Zambia, Africa’s third entry, in last place. Zambia’s only goal was an own goal scored by England, while they conceded 7.
The tournament’s top four teams will be decided after the third-place match and the final, scheduled for Sunday. England will face the USA for bronze at 7:30 PM (Nigerian time) in Santo Domingo, followed by the grand final between defending champions North Korea and former champions, later at 11 PM.
With 30 matches played so far, the tournament has seen 89 goals (an average of 2.97 goals per match), and an attendance of 72,255 (about 2,409 per match).
Spain’s Paula Prador currently leads the goal-scoring charts with 5 goals, ahead of Nigeria’s Shakirat Moshood and North Korea’s Rim-Jong Choe, who each have 4 goals. There have been four own goals in the tournament, with Renata Mercedes (Dominican Republic), Haruko Suzuki (Japan), and Jocelyn Traver (USA) among the players who accidentally scored against their teams.
North Korea’s Kyong Ho leads the assist rankings with 3, while Nigeria’s Harmony Chidi and Opeyemi Abdulwahab each provided 2 assists. Spain’s Irune Dorado Alaser received the most yellow cards, totaling 3, while players who received red cards include Spain’s Alba Izquerdo, Brazil’s Ana Costantin, Colombia’s Isabella Rodriguez, and England’s Omotara Fiyinfoluwa.
Awards for various categories will be announced after the final on Sunday.
The next U-17 Women’s World Cup will take place in Morocco, expanding from 16 to 24 teams, with the tournament now held annually instead of biennially.
