Nigeria’s Flamingos maintained their perfect start to the 2026 WAFU-B U-17 Girls’ Cup after overcoming Ghana’s Black Maidens 4-2 in a thrilling Jollof Derby on Friday in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire.

The Nigerian youngsters showed impressive character to secure their second consecutive victory in the competition despite playing more than 30 minutes with 10 players following the dismissal of defender Elizabeth Adesuyi.

Oluwakemi Adegbuyi opened the scoring for Nigeria in the 33rd minute, finishing a promising attacking move to give the Flamingos a deserved advantage after both teams had struggled to make their early opportunities count. 

Captain Harmony Chidi then doubled Nigeria’s advantage in first-half stoppage time, giving the Flamingos a 2-0 lead at the interval and putting them in a commanding position against the West African rivals.

The complexion of the encounter changed dramatically in the 59th minute when Adesuyi was shown a straight red card following a foul on a Ghanaian attacker, leaving Nigeria to defend their advantage with a player fewer. 

Ghana immediately capitalised on the numerical advantage, with captain Seidatu Wahab scoring from the resulting free-kick in the 62nd minute to reduce the deficit to 2-1 and give the Black Maidens renewed hope of a comeback.

Rather than retreat under pressure, however, the Flamingos responded with remarkable resilience and restored their two-goal cushion in the 70th minute through Mary Dunstan.

Dunstan produced an impressive individual effort, beating her marker before rounding the goalkeeper and finishing to put Nigeria 3-1 ahead. 

Nigeria continued to pose a threat despite their numerical disadvantage and eventually put the result beyond Ghana’s reach when Kaosarat Akanji converted a free-kick in the 87th minute to make it 4-1.

Ghana managed to score a second consolation goal through Gloria Ameaa in the 90th minute, but the late effort could not inspire another comeback as the Flamingos held on for a memorable 4-2 victory. 

The victory means Nigeria have now scored nine goals in their opening two matches of the tournament, following their emphatic 5-0 victory over Niger Republic in their opening fixture. 

The result further strengthens Nigeria’s position in the competition and provides another significant confidence boost for head coach Hakeem Busari and his players as they continue their campaign in Côte d’Ivoire.

The WAFU-B tournament is also serving as an important preparation exercise for the Flamingos ahead of the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco, where Nigeria will face North Korea, Puerto Rico and Poland in Group B.

For Busari’s young side, the hard-fought victory over Ghana provided another valuable competitive test, particularly the team’s ability to remain organised and effective after being reduced to 10 players.

The Flamingos will now turn their attention to their remaining group fixtures as they continue their pursuit of regional honours while fine-tuning their squad ahead of the global championship in Morocco.