Chidi Harmony Chidera: The Captain Who Came to Beat Everyone at the WAFU B U17 Girls Cup

Captain Chidi Harmony Chidera said beating Ghana was her number one achievement in Côte d’Ivoire after Nigeria’s Flamingos defeated Togo 4-0 on Sunday to win the 2026 WAFU B U17 Girls Cup with five wins from five.

Harmony scored twice from the penalty spot in the final match and finished the tournament with four goals. She had already scored against Niger and Ghana before converting both penalties against Togo.

“My number one achievement here is beating Ghana. And not only beating Ghana, beating Ivory Coast,” Harmony said after the title was sealed.

The captain who wanted every game

Harmony did not talk like a player who came to survive the group. She talked like a captain who came to beat everybody in it.

After the 4-0 win over Togo, she said she was “the most happiest person on earth right now.”

“It’s not easy beating many people in this tournament,” she said. “When I talk of coming out from the five teams that we played, we have to conquer all.”

That was the point of her campaign. Nigeria did not finish first by protecting a lead. They won all five matches.

Nigeria’s journey

Nigeria 5–0 Niger

Nigeria 4–2 Ghana

Nigeria 2–0 Burkina Faso

Nigeria 2–0 Côte d’Ivoire

Nigeria 4–0 Togo

Record: 5 wins, 0 draws, 0 defeats

Points: 15

Goals scored: 17

Goals conceded: 2

Harmony’s four goals came against Niger, Ghana and Togo. The two penalties on Sunday, both won by Oluwakemi Adegbuyi, put Nigeria 2-0 up by half-time. Oluebube Umejiaku made it 3-0 in the 67th minute. Adegbuyi scored the fourth in the 90th minute.

Ghana was the one she wanted most

Harmony’s post-match interview made the ranking clear. Beating Togo completed the perfect record. Beating Ghana was the moment she came for.

She had said the same thing immediately after the 4-2 win over the Black Maidens.

“This particular team, we played them in 2024. They won us with penalty and took the cup,” she said then. “It was a very big challenge for us. All of us just came out to beat Ghana. We are not coming out to just draw. We came out to beat Ghana because what happened last would not happen again.”

That 2024 final still sat with the squad. Nigeria reached the first WAFU B U17 Girls Cup final in Ghana, drew 2-2 and lost on penalties. Ghana took the trophy.

Two years later, Harmony’s Flamingos beat Ghana 4-2 in Yamoussoukro despite picking up a red card and then beat the hosts as well.

“Yes, this is a two team,” she said on Sunday. “I am happy.”

Keep the tempo high

Before the Togo match, Harmony had already set the tone for how Nigeria should finish the tournament.

“When you hear about Nigeria, all teams, all countries want to beat us,” she said. “So the best thing for us to keep doing is let’s keep the tempo high. First always listen to our coaches and have that confidence that no matter what we are doing, we will always be the champion, because other countries see Nigeria as the best. So we have to keep that quote going.”

They kept it. Togo were beaten 4-0. The Flamingos left the competition unbeaten.

Busari: win, then keep learning

Head coach Akeem Busari kept the title in perspective.

He praised the standard of the tournament and the young players across West Africa who used the competition to show what they could do. Nigeria had claimed the trophy, he said, but the work was not finished.

“We win, but we never rest on our oars, because it is all about learning and relearning,” Busari said. “Our deficiencies here, we have taken note of.”

He also thanked WAFU B for staging the competition and said more of it would push African football higher.

From Yamoussoukro to Morocco

Harmony closed her interview by turning the title toward the next assignment.

“I pray that with this spirit in this WAFU B, let’s take it to World Cup, and let’s Nigerians support us more so that we can go to the World Cup and do well.”

The Flamingos are already qualified for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco, where they are in Group B with North Korea, Puerto Rico and Poland.

They leave Côte d’Ivoire as champions. Harmony leaves it as the captain who said they came to conquer all five teams — and then did.