The final saw Nigeria overcome a rocky tournament
start—which included an opening 2-1 loss to Poland—to clinch the trophy against
the former champions. The Flamingoes drew first blood in the 39th minute when
Mary Dunstan delivered a long ball to Awawu Bashiru, who finished clinically to
open the scoring.
Nigeria doubled their lead shortly after the second-half
restart. In the 47th minute, Esther Stephen launched a long ball forward to
Oluebube Umejiaku, who deftly chipped the onrushing Japanese goalkeeper.
Japan pressed back and intensified the pressure late in the
match. In the 80th minute, the Ito sisters combined as Fuki converted a pass
from Anri to narrow the deficit to 2-1, setting up a tense finish before
Nigeria successfully defended their lead to secure the global title.
To reach the summit, Nigeria's path included a 2-0 win over
Puerto Rico, a 3-1 upset of defending champions North Korea in the group stage,
a 2-1 victory over Mexico in the Round of 16, a lone-goal win against Venezuela
in the quarterfinals, and a 3-1 semifinal victory over Brazil.
Japan, making their tenth appearance in the tournament,
having won the title in 2014 and finished as runners-up twice, advanced to the
final after defeating Zambia, France, Venezuela, Kenya, Ghana, and
penalty-shootout victory over North Korea.
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