Nigeria U-17 women’s national team forward Oluwakemi Adegbuyi has expressed confidence that the Flamingos will recover from their opening defeat to Poland when they face Puerto Rico in their second Group B fixture at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.

Adegbuyi admitted that Nigeria’s 2–1 loss to Poland was not the result the team had hoped for, despite their intensive preparations and determination to begin the tournament on a positive note.

“Losing to Poland is not what we wanted. We prepared and trained so hard, and we all came out to play in our first game, but the game did not go as planned,” she said.

The forward explained that the team had reviewed their opening performance, identified their mistakes and worked on making the necessary corrections ahead of their next encounter.

“We have watched the highlights, learnt our lessons, and corrected ourselves. Now, we are looking forward to our next game, and we promise to make it count,” Adegbuyi added.

Despite the disappointing result against Poland, Adegbuyi insisted that the defeat had not dampened the team’s morale, stressing that the players remained positive and motivated to deliver a stronger performance against Puerto Rico.

“There is no pressure. We are not down, and the spirit is high. For the next game, we are coming all out to play. We are not letting the first game weigh us down or stop us from performing well in our next game,” she stated.

The Flamingos will take on Puerto Rico on Tuesday, October 20, in their second Group B match, with the Nigerian side targeting its first victory of the tournament to boost its chances of advancing to the knockout stage.