By Wale Mustapha
Head coach of Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team, Bankole Olowokere, has expressed disappointment after watching his side fall 1–0 to France in their second group match at the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup on Wednesday.
The Flamingos suffered heartbreak in the closing stages as Maïssa Fathallah netted the decisive goal for France nine minutes from time, condemning Nigeria to a second consecutive defeat in the tournament.
Having lost their opening game 4–1 to Canada, the result leaves Olowokere’s team on the brink of elimination.
Speaking to FIFA.com after the match, the coach admitted that while his team improved significantly from their first outing, the late goal was painful to concede.
“The game we played against France was much better than the one against Canada,” Olowokere said.
“If we had shown the same kind of fight in that first game, I don’t think we’d be in the situation we’re in now. It was really unfortunate to concede that late goal — it was painful, heartbreaking even.
We’ll just keep working hard and see if we can get something out of it to stay in the tournament.”
Nigeria must now defeat Samoa in their final group fixture on Saturday to have any chance of advancing to the knockout stage.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. On the back of domestic engagement since 2008, he began his international career journey at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
