The Senate has pledged a ₦100 million reward for Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national football team, the Flamingos, following their historic triumph at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
The pledge followed a motion moved by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, Senator Abdul Ningi, who congratulated the players on their outstanding performance and commended the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for its contributions to the team’s success.
The Flamingos made history on Saturday by becoming the first African team to win the competition after defeating Japan 2-1 in the final in Morocco.
Awawu Bashiru opened the scoring in the 39th minute before Oluebube Umejiaku doubled Nigeria’s advantage two minutes into the second half. Japan pulled one back in the 80th minute, but the Nigerian girls held on to secure the historic victory.
The triumph capped an impressive campaign in which the Flamingos recovered from a 2-1 opening defeat to Poland to win five consecutive matches.
They subsequently defeated defending champions North Korea 3-1, Mexico 2-1 and Venezuela 1-0 before overcoming Brazil 3-1 in the semi-finals to reach their first-ever final.
Nigeria’s previous best finish at the competition was third place in 2022, when the team defeated Germany on penalties.
Before the tournament, the Flamingos also won the 2026 WAFU-B Under-17 Girls Cup in Côte d’Ivoire, recording five victories from five matches, scoring 17 goals and conceding just once.
Meanwhile, the Senate commended President Bola Tinubu and Nigerians for their support of the team and called on the Federal Government to increase funding for sports development.
Lawmakers emphasised the need to sustain the achievement through investment in young sporting talents and the provision of adequate facilities and support to nurture future champions.