It was a historic result in Casablanca – but not in a good way. Nigeria’s 2-1 defeat against South Africa in a playoff in August meant that the Super Falcons are missing out on the World Cup for the first time. It is a crushing blow for the most decorated national side in Africa across both men and women, one that has won no fewer than 10 Wafcon titles.
The journalist and lecturer Dr Victor Ademola was in Morocco the day of the defeat. I saw players crying as they got on to the team bus while some sat alone or remained on their phones, looking very sad.” The blow of missing out on the World Cup in Brazil next year came only a few days after they were eliminated from Wafcon at the quarter-final stage by Cameroon – only the semi-finalists qualified for the World Cup automatically, hence Nigeria ending up in that ill-fated playoff. There was a sense of disappointment, disbelief and heartbreak.” The loss is not only historical but consequential.
Nigeria will miss out on developmental funding with next year’s prize fund expected to rise from the previous tournament four years ago. In 2023 the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, pledged to equal the men’s and women’s tournaments prize funds by 2027. The figure for the men’s World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico was $727m (roughly £539m).
Recent news suggest Fifa will miss out on its target but it is nevertheless a blow for Nigeria not to be involved. Janine Anthony, the African women’s football journalist, says the stakes for the Super Falcons were especially high as “women’s football does not have the luxury of not being at a World Cup”. Anthony adds: “A spot at the World Cup is the ultimate window and it’s a dream to be able to represent your country at any stage, whether it’s in music or football.
For women’s football, the World Cup is such a commercially marketable vehicle. The Super Falcons team were one of only seven teams that had been to every World Cup, [and] the only African team. Now that’s gone.” Anthony says that despite the Super Falcons’ success they are treated as an “absolute afterthought” in terms of the domestic leagues, management and preparation.
The lack of preparation games proved problematic in Morocco, she suggests, manifesting itself in a lack of cohesiveness in most games. The then coach, Justine Madugu, frequently changed the starting XI throughout the tournament. Before the tournament the team played two games against Senegal, who have never qualified for the World Cup, whereas before the 2025 edition they had three friendlies, against France, Cameroon and Portugal.
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