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Defending champions Nigeria’s Super Falcons suffered a shock 3-2 defeat to Malawi in their opening Group C match at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) at the Al Madina Stadium in Rabat on Tuesday night.
Completesports.com’s ADEBOYE AMOSU rates the performances of the Super Falcons players in the pulsating encounter.
Chiamaka Nnadozie 3/10
The Brighton goalkeeper fell below her usual standards, making mistakes that led directly to two of Malawi’s goals.
Shukurat Oladipo 3/10
The AS Roma defender failed to justify her selection. Oladipo will be lucky to be selected for Nigeria’s next game against Zambia
Oluwatosin Demehin 3/10
The dependable centre-back endured an uncharacteristically difficult outing and was fortunate to escape a red card after a rash challenge on Themwa Chawinga in the second half.
Osinachi Ohale 3/10
Age appears to have caught up with the centre-back, who struggled to cope with the pace, trickery, and relentless movement of Malawi’s lively forwards.
Michelle Alozie 3/10
Deployed out of her natural position, the full-back struggled to make her usual impact and delivered a below-par performance.
Halimat Ayinde 3/10
The veteran midfielder struggled to impose herself, as she was outmuscled and outplayed by Malawi’s youthful and energetic midfield. She was eventually replaced by Deborah Abiodun late in the game.
Read Also:WAFCON 2026: Debutant Malawi Stun Super Falcons In Opening Game
Jennifer Echegini 3/10
Expected to be one of Nigeria’s key performers, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder endured a quiet outing and struggled to make a meaningful impact.
Folashade Ijamilusi 3/10
The China-based forward endured a disappointing outing and was substituted for Toni Payne in the second half after struggling to make an impact
Rasheedat Ajibade 5/10
The skipper got the Super Falcons back into the game with a well-taken penalty and produced an energetic display, finishing with two shots on target.
Esther Okoronkwo 3/10
The usually dependable forward endured a disappointing outing and was replaced by Asisat Oshoala with seven minutes remaining.
Chiwendu Ihezuo 3/10
She was unable to stamp her authority on the game and eventually made way for Uchenna Kanu.
Substitutes
Uchenna Kanu 5/10
Uchenna Kanu made an immediate impact after coming on, winning the penalty that led to Nigeria’s opening goal before scoring the Super Falcons’ second of the game
Toni Payne 2/10
The new Inter Milan midfielder failed to make a meaningful impact after coming on for Folashade Ijamilusi.
Asisat Oshoala
Not Rated
Deborah Abiodun
Not Rated
5 Comments
You had Ayinde starting ahead of Deborah,, a bug mistake. Ucheibe was better if you don’t use Deborah.
Ihezuo and Ijamilusi are crap and have no business in that team. Now we have to start praying to qualify from our group. Ohale and Demehin something has to give. We need prayers now to qualify. First half was non existent. Team ruined by lack of enough pre tournament friendlies.
Super Falcons Falter Spectacularly: Malawi 3:2 Nigeria
Honestly, I wouldn’t say I didn’t see this coming. An almighty capitulation against Wafcon debutants Malawi might have sent shockwaves to the continent, but the Super Falcons got exactly what they, their attitude, their approach to the match deserves: to come away empty-handed, embarrassed and humiliated by opponents who took the match seriously, professionally and competently.
What were our players thinking? Malawi will just roll down and die at the sight of the almighty, untouchable, unassailable, social media savvy Super Falcons?
What a joke!
For the first 30 minutes of the encounter, if I could be paid 1 Kobo for every time the Super Falcons delivered a wayward pass, I would be a millionaire by now: they were abject, they were awful, they were not at the races.
Earlier on, Ayinde lost needlessly in midfield, setting the tone for how ineffective that midfield department would be for 60 minutes before subs were made. Alozie would often overlap from the left to deliver decent-looking but mundane crosses which Malawi gave less thought to like a mosquito.
The formation, on paper, was Madugu’s signature 4-3-3 but the on grass, the players look rudderless, directionless, purposeless.
What they were playing was not football! The trio of Ayinde, Echegini and Ajibade played like a married couple that had filed for divorce: zero cooperation and coordination. In front, Ijamilusi, Okoronkwo and Ihezuo were detached from the rest. Oladipo looked lost, losing possession, delivering failed passes, throwing the ball to nobody ad failing hilariously to combine and coalesce with those around her.
Ohale and Demehin were simply not up to the job on the night. They looked faded, fatigued, fumbling; bumbling into each other and making a mockery of the sacred art of centre back-pairing play. Social Media Comedian Nnadozie was the butt of the joke on the night as she looked heavy, leggy, shaky, conceding 3 goals and looking clownish in the process – it was embarrassing, to say the least.
As I alluded to earlier, the first 30 minutes was a cabaret of poor passes. Oladipo, Nnadozie, Echegini, Alozie, Ohale and others were culprits. During this 30 minute stanza, it was difficult to decipher what the plan, approach and strategy of the team was: The midfield was non-existent, long balls from defence were hopeful and hopeless; crosses were abject; shots at goal were at a premium.
The next 30 minutes were more of the same: Ijamilusi losing the ball severally; long balls from Ohale to Okoronkwo were easily dealt with, Demehin’s passes to Alozie were ineffective; Alozie’s passes were not cooked al-dente; Ihezuo got in on the act of delivering dire passes; Nnadozie had to make a comical save outside her 18 yard box with Demehin and Ohale lost at sea. It was a joke, honestly. It was like giving a 3 year old child a bowl of rice pudding to eat and play with and be surprised to see her whole face and your entire dining table painted with sludge of rice pudding!
The players had no structure, no shape, no organisation. This wasn’t even “kick and follow” football. It was “follow and kick” football – follow the ball, kick it aimlessly!
For the last 30 minutes, after subs were made, the Super Falcons finally, finally, woke from their slumber. They remembered who they were, why they were there and what they needed to do. Finally, their game started showing a semblance of how football should be played. The midfield started knitting neat passes, freeing up the flanks where Kanu and Ajibade tried to combine.
Still, it was all generic and pedestrian. Kanu’s generic crosses caused some problems and generic passes in midfield enabled to the team achieve transition and turnover. Rotations and pivots in front were becoming evident and some sort of structure was finally taking shape. But it was too little too late.
At that point, I had lost interest. And at this point, I rest my pen!
The most disappointing player for me was our usually reliable safe hands Nnadozie.
What happened? She just lost it completely. Making strange decisions to rush out of her goal on two occasions, and both resulted in goals for Malawi!
Yes, she gift wrapped 2 goals and sent them to Malawi with love.
Does Nnadozie want to switch nationality to Russia? Is that why she was rushing all over the place? Even Russians don’t rush like this.
She was so far away from her goal line on both occasions, and it was completely unnecessary, as the Malawi striker would likely not have been able to score if she had just remained on her goal line.
A big lesson going forward. Stay in your 6 yard box, unless it is absolutely necessary. This is where professional judgment must be applied. When to come out, and when to stay in.
I will be pleasantly surprised if we make it out of this group. This defeat is very costly indeed. It is no longer in our hands. Results from other matches must go our way. We must win our remaining matches, and hope Malawi lose theirs. Egypt especially must beat Malawi for us to have a chance of progressing, as a draw or worse, a win for Malawi will cook our goose.
Question is, how are we going to beat a rampant Zambia with the lacklustre performance we just witnessed? And how on earth will a poor, pathetic Egypt side beat Malawi? Hmmm! We have put ourselves in a very tight corner indeed!
The fat lady is set to sing ever so melodiously. She already sang for us against DRC in the playoffs. Will she sing again?
Oya eyin eyan, it’s calculator time once again. Time to calculate permutation and combination, time to apply probability theory. Time to start furiously pressing calculators is here again!
The signs were there right from the start shoddy preparations un seriousness on the part of NFF Imagine the almighty defending champion knowing that the unious lys that other teams has to take them terribly serious to become champions too ? Even the technical crew are bereft of ideas for a superlative performance
Everything is not physical. Sometimes the spiritual determines outcomes of national events. Tinubu is a curse and badluck to Nigeria.Ever since he came to power Nigeria hasnt qualfy for the world cup. Super falcons may face same fate as the suler Eagles. God is not happy with the rulership of Nigeria.. period and take note