Nigeria’s cadet female national team, Flamingos will on Thursday line out against Mexico at the 2026 FIFA U17 World Cup in a Moroccan coastal walled city whose official name is Salé and famous for its ancestral markets.
Sports247 gathered that, although the North Western city is reputed with three globally renowned markets, the most prominent features in Salé are not products for buying and selling but a number of ancestrally relevant religious monuments.
Read Also: Flamingos Must Use All Chances During Thursday’s Round Of 16 Battle With Mexico, Akeem Busari Admits
Further checks reveal that Salé is a historic city located on the Bou Regreg river opposite the Moroccan capital, Rabat, on the Atlantic coast and with over 945,000 residents in the highly traditional commune.
The city also served as a medieval port and a 17th-century pirate republic haven (known as Sallee Rovers), with its main landmarks being the historic medina, Bab Lamrissa (Bab el-Mrisa) gate, the 11th-century Great Mosque and Mohammed VI Tower.
Its prominent markets are Souk Lakbir for fabrics, Souk Al-Ghazal for auctions as well as Souk El Oulja for pottery and traditional handicrafts, served by the Rabat-Salé-Ville highway, Salé-Tabriquet train station, Rabat-Salé Tramway and Rabat-Salé Airport.
Among the tourist attractions are Mubawab, a local marketplace for residential and luxury homes as well as lots of country houses, villas and apartments on Bou Regreg river, at Wadi, a former medieval merchant port, famous for its 1914 fortified medina walls and Bab Lamrissa gate.
However, Coach Akeem Busari and his players will not have any time for sightseeing before and after Thursday game, as they have to defeat Mexico in the round of 16, then concentrate on how to overcome Germany or Colombia in the quarter-finals.
The first focus for them, though, is this Thursday’s clash with Mexico, as two sides that lost their opening games in the group stage lock horns, while hoping to carry their improved form into the knockout last eight.
The Flamingos began their campaign with a 2-1 loss to Poland but rebounded with a 2-0 victory against Puerto Rico and emphatic 3-1 surge over back-to-back defending champions, North Korea, to end up second in Group B.
Similarly, Mexico got back from an opening 2-0 loss to Spain and then defeated Chile 3-1 despite coming from behind, after Catalina Muñoz had given the South Americans an early lead – as Mia Urbano, Citlalli Reyes and Nicole Jimenez scored to secure the victory.
While the Nigerians will take confidence from their shock performance against Korea DPR, Mexico’s comeback against Chile shows the threat they pose, thereby making this round of 16 match in Salé a balanced clash between two in-form sides hoping to reach the quarter-finals.
