‘𝐖𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞’ – Brazil Coach Laments Defeat

Brazil coach Rilany Silva has blamed her team’s technical mistakes and Nigeria’s physical strength for their 3-1 defeat to the Flamingos in the semi-final of the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.

The Brazilian coach admitted that her players struggled to cope with Nigeria’s physical approach, particularly during transitions and counter-attacks, as the Flamingos secured a historic victory to reach their first-ever final of the competition.

Speaking to FIFA after Wednesday’s encounter, Rilany explained that her team’s inability to execute simple passes contributed significantly to the defeat.

“Just like against Ghana, when you make technical mistakes against teams that are more physical than those we are used to facing, you will pay for that. Against Ghana, we made a lot of mistakes in simple passes, and that happened again today. We suffered because of it,” she said.

Rilany further explained that Nigeria’s defensive and attacking organization made it difficult for Brazil to exploit spaces on the pitch.

“These are teams that defend and attack with two blocks and offer a lot of space inside the pitch. But we couldn’t take advantage of that because of these errors. We suffered a lot from the transitions and counter-attacks,” she added.

Nigeria’s physical intensity and attacking efficiency proved decisive, as the Flamingos dominated important spells of the encounter to book their place in Saturday’s final against Japan.

Awawu Bashiru was the standout performer for Nigeria, scoring twice, while Queen Joseph also found the net to complete the 3-1 victory.

Brazil’s Greise Kelly scored a late consolation goal.

The victory represents a historic achievement for the Flamingos, who had previously reached the semi-finals only once, finishing third at the 2022 edition in India.

Akeem Busari’s side will now face Japan in the final as they seek to become the first Nigerian team to win the U-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup.