Ghana’s Black Maidens produced an emphatic display on Matchday Four of the WAFU Zone B U17 Girls Cup, defeating Niger 6-1 in Yamoussoukro to strengthen their position at the top end of the standings.
Niger stunned the Black Maidens by taking the lead just two minutes into the encounter through Rakiatou Oumarou. Ghana, however, responded in commanding fashion, with Saidatu Wahab restoring parity in the 10th minute before completing her brace shortly afterwards. Daniela Abass then extended Ghana’s advantage in the 20th minute, while Zeinab Shani added a fourth seven minutes later to give the West Africans a comfortable lead before the break.
Ghana continued their dominance after the interval, with Anita Yeboah and Sakinatu Amadu finding the back of the net to complete a convincing 6-1 victory. The result takes the Black Maidens to nine points and keeps them firmly in contention for top spot heading into the final round of matches.
In the second game of the day, Burkina Faso secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Togo. Carine Goribie opened the scoring for Burkina Faso in the second minute, before Fadila Bagagnan doubled the advantage five minutes after the restart. Togo responded through Rahmatou-Lahi in the 78th minute, but Burkina Faso held on to claim all three points.
The day’s headline encounter saw Nigeria maintain their perfect record with a 2-0 victory over hosts Côte d’Ivoire. Edo Queens youngster Oluwakemi Adegbuyi struck inside the opening three minutes to give Nigeria an early advantage. Côte d’Ivoire pushed for an equaliser but were unable to find a way through, and Patra Oparanmegwa sealed the victory for Nigeria with an 82nd-minute second goal.
Nigeria remain top of the standings with a maximum 12 points from four matches, followed by Ghana on nine points. Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso are level on six points, while Togo have three points and Niger remain without a point.
With the final round of matches still to come, attention now turns to the battle for top spot between Nigeria and Ghana. The closing fixtures will determine the final positions in the standings as the teams seek to conclude their participation in the competition on a strong note.
Beyond the results, the WAFU Zone B U17 Girls Cup continues to serve a key developmental purpose, providing young players with valuable competitive match experience. The increased number of games is intended to support the technical and tactical development of the next generation of women’s football talents across the zone.
WAFU ZONE B COMMUNICATIONS