Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team captain, Harmony Chidi, has opened up about the family challenges and serious injury she overcame before leading the Flamingos to their historic triumph at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.

The 17-year-old striker, who plays for Bayelsa Queens, revealed that her mother initially opposed her ambition to become a footballer and wanted her to get married following the early death of her father.

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Speaking in an interview with BBC Pidgin, Chidi said her grandmother was instrumental in encouraging her to continue playing despite her mother’s reservations.

When I started football, my mother didn’t want me to play.

My father died early, so my mother wanted me to get married.

It was my grandmother who stood by me and pushed me to play football.

Unfortunately, my grandmother is late, she said.

The young footballer also acknowledged the support of her foster father, Prince Chidi, who owns her grassroots team, Imo Strikers, and encouraged her to pursue her professional ambitions.

According to her, his guidance helped her remain focused on achieving her dream despite the difficulties she encountered.

It wasn’t easy until I met my foster father, Prince Chidi.

He is the owner of my grassroots team, Imo Strikers, and he encourages me, making sure that I achieve my dream, she added.

Chidi also recalled a career-threatening injury that nearly brought her football journey to an end and prevented her from participating in the previous edition of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

She described the experience as the most difficult period of her career, explaining that the situation became more painful when some friends abandoned her during her recovery.

There is nothing that has been more difficult than my injury.

It is an injury that has killed the dream of many players in Nigeria.

All my friends deserted me and it was tough.

I even thought of an alternative plan, she said.

However, she recovered from the setback, returned to competitive football and eventually captained Nigeria to its first-ever title at the tournament.

The Flamingos secured the historic achievement after defeating Japan 2-1 in Saturday’s final in Morocco, becoming the first African nation to win the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Despite reaching a major milestone at a young age, Chidi said she remained determined to achieve even greater success.

She named Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen, Manchester City forward Erling Haaland, England captain Harry Kane, Brazilian winger Raphinha and Nigerian football star Asisat Oshoala among the players she admired.

I have like five players that I want to be like: Victor Osimhen, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Raphinha and Asisat Oshoala.