South Africa's Refiloe Jane (L) and Nigeria's Rasheedat Ajibade (R) are captains of teams fighting to stay in contention for 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification. PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images
Nigeria’s Super Falcons will miss the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time in the tournament’s history after losing 2-1 to South Africa in a play-off at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in Morocco on Thursday.
The defeat ended Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the intercontinental play-offs, where the winners of the two African play-off matches would have earned another route to the World Cup.
The Super Falcons and Banyana Banyana met in Casablanca after both teams failed to secure automatic World Cup qualification at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Nigeria lost 1-0 to Cameroon in the WAFCON quarter-finals, while South Africa were beaten 2-1 by hosts Morocco at the same stage.
