Okoronkwo shines as Toronto fall short at Sevens

FILE: Esther Okoronkwo

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Nigeria’s Esther Okoronkwo produced another standout performance for AFC Toronto, scoring the decisive goal in a thrilling 3–2 win over Kansas City Current at the World Sevens Football tournament in Fort Lauderdale, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The 28-year-old forward, who also scored in Toronto’s opening-day defeat to Tigres, now has two goals in three games for the Canadian side. Kansas City took an early lead through Alexandra Pfeiffer in the fifth minute, but Toronto quickly responded.

Kaylee Hunter equalised in the eighth minute with an assist from Okoronkwo and then turned the score to 2–1 with a stunning long-range strike four minutes later.

The match became a tense, back-and-forth affair typical of Sevens football. Pfeiffer scored again to level for Kansas City at 2–2, momentarily halting Toronto’s momentum.

Okoronkwo thought she had restored the lead shortly afterwards, only for the goal to be disallowed due to the ball having gone out of play earlier.

The winning moment arrived in the 29th minute when Hunter, once again influential, raced down the flank and delivered a precise low cross. Okoronkwo timed her run perfectly and tapped home the winner, giving Toronto their first victory of the tournament. The team then defended resolutely to close out the match.

Despite the victory, Toronto exited the competition alongside Kansas City, having earned only one win from three group games. Earlier, Toronto had fallen 3–2 to Mexico’s Tigres despite goals from Okoronkwo and Nikki Small, and drew 2–2 with Flamengo before losing on penalties.

Tigres UANL and Flamengo, both on six points, advanced to the semifinals against Club America and San Diego Wave respectively.

Okoronkwo, recently ranked 98th globally in The Guardian’s best player list and the first player from Canada’s Northern Super League to make this list, finished the regular season with eight goals and seven assists.

She also capped her AFCON campaign with two goals, six assists, and a player-of-the-match performance in Nigeria’s 3–2 victory over Morocco. Earlier before the Sevens, she had delivered a first-half hat-trick to send AFC Toronto into the Northern Super League championship semifinal, helping her side to a 4–1 win over the Montreal Roses before they lost in the final.

The World Sevens Football series features professional seven-a-side competitions and this edition in Fort Lauderdale is the second planned tournament in 2025, following the inaugural event in Portugal in May which Bayern Munich won after defeating Manchester United in the final. The format has secured investment for five years and features eight top clubs from around the world.

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