•Super Falcons
Nigeria’s Super Falcons still have a chance to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil despite their quarter-final elimination from the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).
The 10-time African champions lost 1-0 to Cameroon yesterday after conceding an early goal, missing out on one of Africa’s four automatic qualification tickets for next year’s World Cup, reports The Nation.
However, Nigeria’s World Cup hopes remain alive through the continental play-offs, where they will be joined by fellow WAFCON quarter-final losers South Africa, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
The Super Falcons will face South Africa on Thursday, with victory securing one of the two available CAF play-off tickets.
The two teams that emerge from the continental play-offs will then proceed to the global play-off tournament, where they will compete for the final World Cup places.
According to FIFA, the first phase of the global play-offs will be held in November and December 2026 at a centralised venue, involving six teams — two from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), two from CAF, one from CONMEBOL and one from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).
“Using a format which will be confirmed at a later date, two teams will qualify for the final play-off phase,” FIFA said.
The final phase will take place in February 2027, with the two qualifiers from the first phase joined by two teams from CONCACAF, one from CONMEBOL and one from UEFA.
The six teams will be drawn into three paths, with a direct knockout match in each path determining the final three qualifiers for the World Cup.
Only three teams will ultimately secure tickets to the tournament in Brazil through the global play-off route.
The Super Falcons, therefore, cannot afford another defeat if they are to maintain their remarkable record of appearing at every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup since the tournament began in 1991.
At the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Nigeria reached the Round of 16 before losing to eventual finalists England on penalties.
