Nigeria Super Falcons’ quest for an 11th Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) has ended following a 1-0 defeat to Cameroon in the quarterfinal on Sunday, completesports.com reports.
A first half wonderful long range free kick by Maéva Nyadjou secured the win for Cameroon and also qualification for the 2027 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
However, the Super Falcons still have a chance to qualify for the World Cup, as they will now face South Africa in the play-in semi-final tie on Thursday, August 13.
A win for the Falcons will seal a final spot and also a place in the inter-confederation play-offs qualifiers.
The inter-confederation play-offs tournament will be played in two phases in the international windows of November–December 2026 and February 2027 to determine the final three teams to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Going into Sunday’s clash, the Super Falcons had won nine of the last 10 WAFCON knockout matches with Cameroon.
Eight minutes into the contest Cameroon went close from a free kick but Chiamaka Nnadozie made a good save.
But in the 20th minute Cameroon took the lead as Nyadjou hit a superb free kick which beat Nnadozie.
The Super Falcons almost drew level one minute after Cameroon took the lead but Monday could not get a clean strike on a cross which the keeper tipped away.
Also Read: WAFCON 2026: We’re Ready For Super Falcons Battle —Cameroon’s Ndzana
In the 28th minute Jennifer Echegini saw her goal bound shot palmed away by the Cameroon goalkeeper.
In the first minute of first half added time Echegini failed to get a clean strike on a cross which the goalkeeper saved.
The start of the second half saw the Super Falcons bossing possession and chances created but the Cameroon backline stood firm.
On 66 minutes Esther Okoronkwo sent in a dangerous free kick which the keeper claimed well.
Kanu almost equalised in the 70th minute off a brilliant cross but saw her header stopped by the keeper.
With 12 minutes left Echegini broke on the left but saw her shot palmed away.
Cameroon went close to doubling their lead on 85 minutes but Nnadozie tipped the ball over the bar.
Okonkwo had a big chance to draw level in the 94th minute but saw her effort go just off target.
By James Agberebi
7 Comments
I have said it that whenever super falcons lose their opening game, they usually don’t win the tournament.
The team was poorly prepared. There is a saying now among the tech guys that says fake it untill you brake it.
That my statement above is for magudu or whatever you guys call the coach name.
To nff continue to whallo in poor result and heart broken for Nigeria, everything has expiring date.
Very wiked generation of football fa.
This is becoming a familiar tale: IF NIGERIA BEAT SOUTH AFRICA, THEY’LL QUALIFY FOR THE INTER CONFEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP……..and so on, and so forth. See calculations! Up NFF
This Papafem should be in Gusau’s face and those inept state FA chairmen that recently endorsed him:
#######$$#
Gusau and his NFF have now presided over an unprecedented collapse in Nigerian football. The Super Falcons will miss the next World Cup for the first time in our history. And as I write this, Nigeria’s U-20 side is being beaten 3–1 by Burkina Faso at the WAFU Zone B tournament. At this point, you almost have to ask: how many warning signs does Nigerian football need before somebody finally accepts responsibility?
Those of us who criticised this Falcons team from the beginning were not being negative. We saw the warning signs. The poor preparation. The questionable selections. The tactical confusion. The lack of cohesion. Against Zambia, we were fortunate they failed to punish their chances. Egypt gave us too much respect, and whenever they attacked, we looked vulnerable. Now Cameroon has knocked us out in the WAFCON quarter-final—and with it, our World Cup ticket.
But the Falcons are only one chapter in a much bigger disaster.
Under Gusau’s leadership, the Super Eagles have missed two World Cups in a row. The Super Falcons are out of the next World Cup. Our U-17 teams have struggled to qualify for the World Cup for years, from even for CAF championship at WAFU ZONE B. Now the U-20s have just suffered another setback. Our women’s youth teams are increasingly struggling to qualify for global competitions. And at club level, Nigerian teams have virtually disappeared from serious contention on the continent.
Everywhere you look, the pipeline is breaking.
Senior teams failing. Youth teams failing. Women’s football struggling. Clubs disappearing from continental relevance. Talent development weakening. Preparation becoming an afterthought. Yet somehow, the people presiding over this decline are preparing to ask Nigerians for another term.
For what exactly?
What is the moral justification for seeking re-election after this catalogue of failures? If this were a company, this board would have been fired long ago. If this were a serious football administration, performance would determine survival; not slogans, excuses and another election campaign.
Gusau and his executive committee cannot continue presenting Nigerian football as their success story when virtually every major indicator is flashing red.
And Madugu must go too. The Falcons need a competent coach, a coherent technical direction, serious preparation and proper scouting. But beyond the coach, the NFF itself needs a fundamental overhaul.
This is no longer about one bad tournament or one unfortunate result. It is a pattern. A system. A culture of failure.
Nigeria has the population, talent and football history to dominate Africa and compete globally. What we apparently don’t have is an administration capable of converting those advantages into sustainable success.
So before Gusau and his colleagues ask for another mandate, Nigerians should ask them one brutally simple question:
What exactly have you done to deserve another four years?
######
God forbid tinubu not telling NFF entire board to resign before next month election.
How can ordinary Burkina faso beat our under 20 twice in one week?
How?
Let me leave functional football coach Madugu tonight.
No…
First falcons team to:
Lose to debutants
Concede 6 goals in first 4 WAFCON matches
Put several “right” players in very wrong positions when coaches had all the time in the world to put round pegs in round holes on the first call up list
To not reach the semis
To not play for gold, silver or bronze medal
I’m exhausted….
Yes we can blame the NFF for their poor football administration and ineptitude in not giving our Super Falcons the necessary preparation before this Wafcon tournament and it showed right from the 1st game against Malawi. I am not sure the NFF is even providing our coaches at all levels, especially Super Falcons with qualified Video and Performance Analyst to help the Coaches in their preparations.
I still cannot blame Coach Madugu for inept performance of our SF girls and the shambolic, overweight goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie who gifted Cameroon such cheap goal that made the SF play with anxiety and panic through the for over 60 minutes out of 90minutes regulation time.
All the so called “White Coaches” at this tournament some of you are clamouring for are out except Morocco coached by Spanish women world cup winner- which the much vilified Madugu taught coaching lesson only a year ago- coming from 2 goals down at half time to beat his team 3-2 to win the Wafcon trophy.
Today a black African coached Malawi ladies beat their Ghana counterpart, coached by a full Swedish technical team led by Lars…. Ivory Coast Women also coached by French white man have been knocked out yesterday by indigenous African coach. As for Zambia also coached by a European Swiss (Nora Häuptle) did not even go beyond the group stage. Note that coach Madugu and his ward have now beaten Zambia Copper Queens coached by “White” twice within one year in two successive Wafcons.
Anyone who blames Madugu for today’s defeat should get themselves examined by a professional psychiatrist for hate and bitterness induced psychosis. The SF completely outplayed the Cameroonian lionesses: Check the match statistics- possession, passes, chances created, expected goals from open play, shots, shots on target and Super Falcons are way ahead with 8 shots on target compared to Cameroons 3. It’s not for nothing that the Woman player of the match award went to the Cameroon woman goalkeeper.
Today was just a bad day at the office for Justin Madugu’s ward. You cannot dominate your opponent in such fashion and still lose the match.
However I will advice that we keep Madugu, to navigate the girls through the playoffs- he is cheaper and far better value for money that the “white mercenaries” Coaches that have nothing to offer African football.
@ honourable Deo, was heart broken, he couldn’t analys today’s falcon game.
But it is well nff, you guys should keep braking the heart of Nigeria.
Super falcon you ladies had fortfited $100,000 as well. Cos this time last year dolar was raining.
@Sly, God knows I’ve never been a fan of Gusau. If I had my way, I’d have the entire NFF leadership subjected to the most rigorous independent scrutiny possible. Let the facts speak for themselves. I don’t even care if FIFA threatens sanctions. Sanctions for what? What exactly are we protecting when our football is already being systematically dismantled?
Sometimes, it feels as though Gusau and his people are on a mission to destroy, piece by piece, something generations of Nigerians built with sweat, talent and sacrifice.
And for someone like me, this isn’t just football.
Football has been medicinal.
Whenever one of our national teams plays, I get a temporary escape from the pressures of life. When Nigeria wins, even briefly, something inside me relaxes. That may sound trivial to someone who doesn’t understand it, but millions of Nigerians know exactly what I’m talking about.
In August 2021, I lost a son. My world practically collapsed. There were already complicated circumstances surrounding his birth, and losing him felt like someone had ripped out a vital part of my existence. I went through one of the darkest periods of my life. I even contemplated suicide.
Then came AFCON in January 2022.
That Super Eagles group stage run became an unexpected lifeline. For a few days, football gave me somewhere else to put my pain. My blood pressure eased. The physical weight of grief seemed lighter. Even after we lost to Tunisia at the knockout stage, the team’s performance in the earlier round, winning three straight matches, gave me something to look forward to and helped calm a mind that was struggling badly. It was a huge distraction for me, to be honest.
That is the power of football.
Now imagine politicians and administrators who barely understand the game being allowed to play games with something that means this much to millions of people.
Football isn’t just about the 22 players on the pitch. There are journalists, photographers, analysts, content creators, vendors, kit sellers, coaches, academy owners, small businesses and entire families whose livelihoods depend on this ecosystem. More importantly, football can be one of the cheapest and most powerful instruments of social engineering we have.
It can pull a young person away from crime. It can give a child purpose. It can turn raw talent into a career and poverty into possibility. I’ve seen people who could easily have ended up on the wrong side of society find discipline and identity through football.
And football is perhaps our most natural unifying force. Tribe doesn’t matter when Nigeria scores. Religion temporarily disappears. Class becomes irrelevant. For ninety minutes, millions of people shout for the same colour.
So why are we leaving such a powerful national asset in the hands of people who appear incapable of managing it?
Why are we watching our national teams decline, our youth pipeline collapse, our clubs lose relevance, and our international prospects disappear, while the same administrators are preparing to return for another term?
I’m honestly heartbroken.
I just hope the government understands what is at stake and finds a lawful, credible way to ensure that Nigerian football is rescued from this cycle before the September election.
Because this isn’t just about Gusau. It’s about what we are allowing to happen to something that has given millions of Nigerians hope, joy, identity and, sometimes, even a reason to keep going.
This is unfair. Why do you pipo want NFF Onigbese out?
Don’t you want them to share money? Ehn? Don’t you want them to flex?
They wanna buy G-Wagon. They wanna buy Brabus. They wanna buy property on Banana Island. Why are you trying to be an enemy of their progress? Leave them jare, make dem share money!
The money they have shared all this while is not enough. They need to share more money.
Let’s allow them another 4 years, so they can share enough money among themselves.
Las las, dem go kuku sell the Glass House, and share the money received from sale!
Abeg make we leave dem, make dem see road to share money.
E dey pain dem say money wey dem for share no reach dem. FIFA money that they would have collected from 2022 and 2026 world cup qualification went to other countries. Now, even FIFA money for women’s world cup no gum dem. Body dey pepper dem.
So they are desperately looking for money now. They want to share money. That is their number one priority.
Let us allow them another 4 years, so they can share enough money, and put the final nail on our football coffin. With these charlatans still in office, our football is completely finished.