Oluebube Umejiaku has expressed her delight after being named Player of the Match in the Flamingos’ 2-1 victory over Mexico in their Round of 16 clash at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
The forward played a key role in Nigeria’s progression to the quarter-finals, opening the scoring in the 40th minute before Mary Dunstan doubled the advantage in the 72nd minute. Mexico’s Emily Delgado pulled one back in stoppage time, but the Flamingos held on to secure the crucial win.
Speaking after the encounter in a short interview posted on the official Super Falcons X (formerly Twitter) page, Umejiaku described the individual recognition as a moment she had worked towards for a long time.
“I feel very happy. I feel very happy because I’ve been wanting this for a long time now. I put everything to get this and I’m so happy to get it,” she said.
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The youngster acknowledged the difficulty of the contest, praising Mexico’s physicality and strength while crediting the coaching crew’s instructions and the team’s faith for their performance.
“It was a tough one. We tried everything. They are a strong side, they are very good, they are physical. When we wanted to enter the pitch we just said, God just help us. We put God first and that’s just it,” Umejiaku added.
“With the help of the coaching crew and with the instruction we followed, we did everything right.”
Umejiaku has been one of Nigeria’s standout performers at the tournament, having now scored thrice in the competition. She opened her account with Nigeria’s first goal of the tournament in their 2-1 defeat to Poland before finding the net again in the Flamingos’ 3-1 victory over defending champions Korea DPR.
Her latest strike against Mexico further underlines her importance to the Nigerian side as they continue their quest for the title.
The Flamingos will face Venezuela in the quarter-finals on November 1, with Umejiaku expected to play a crucial role as Nigeria look to extend their impressive run and move closer to their first FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup crown.
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