NIGERIAN football faces a sombre moment. For a country once regarded as a continental power, it should not be. The corrosive gloom deepened between July and August after the Super Falcons’ landmark failure to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals in Brazil.
Nigeria’s pride as the African women’s football lodestar was extinguished at the Women’s African Cup of Nations in August when the 10-time African champions were unceremoniously disgraced in the quarterfinals by Cameroon. The Falcons lost 1-0.
Just like the men’s team, the Super Eagles were sent packing by DR Congo in March during the playoffs (on penalties); South Africa’s Bayana Bayana eliminated the Falcons 2-1.
As expected, that set off a loud alarm bell: Nigeria’s football is on the ropes. Years of ineptitude and corruption have finally caught up with its administrators.
In this context, the Falcons’ no-show was a massive disaster. Since FIFA inaugurated the women’s World Cup at China ’91, the Nigerian ladies had always qualified. That was until the 2025 WAFCON in Morocco.
