Super Falcons vow to bounce back after World Cup miss

Super Falcons captain Rasheedat Ajibade and forward Rinsola Babajide have pledged that Nigeria will recover following their disappointing performance at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, which resulted in missing a spot at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil. Nigeria's hopes were dashed on Thursday after a 2-1 loss to South Africa in the Confederation of African Football play-off held in Casablanca.

The Super Falcons had already failed to secure an automatic World Cup qualification after a 1-0 defeat to Cameroon in the quarter-finals, marking their worst-ever finish in the competition and ending their streak of reaching at least the semi-finals in previous WAFCON tournaments. In the match against South Africa, Thembi Kgatlana scored in the 56th minute, followed by Refiloe Jane in the 77th minute.

Nigeria received a penalty in stoppage time after a VAR review, which saw Jane sent off, and Christy Ucheibe converted the penalty, but the team could not equalize, resulting in their first World Cup absence since 1991.