…Flying Eagles Miss AFCON U20 In Ghana
For the first time since the introduction of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991, Nigeria’s Super Falcons will likely not be part of the party in Brazil after crashing out of the WAFCON in the quarter final to the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon.
The painful 0-1 loss leaves the Super Falcons with the Inter-continental play off route as the only pathway to joining the World Cup train come June 24 to July 25, 2027
Cameroon scored in the 19th minute and held on to that lone strike till the end of the game to secure a priceless victory against the Super Falcons, and a ticket to the world cup, as only the four semi finalist qualify automatically for the 32 team mundial in Beazil..
Nigeria will on Thursday take on South Africa in Casablanca for a place in the Inter-Confederation play off tournament at stake.
The four WAFCON quarter finalist-Nigeria, South Africa, Ivory Coast and Ghana will play against each other in CAF’s play off fixtures to determine the two continental representatives.
Winners of the fixtures will progress to the global FIFA Play off where they will face teams from other continents for a place at the 2027 FIFA women’s world cup.
To navigate qualification through the Inter-continental play off route, the Super Falcons will have to emerge from Africa a more difficult path than just qualifying for the WAFCON semis.
The play offs will have ten teams in total,two from each confederation: Africa, Asia, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL plus 1,from Oceania plus 1 from Europe .
The first phase of the play off will be Nov to Dec 2026 where the 2 African teams will slug it out; the second phase which will be in February 2027 will see winners from phase 1 join higher ranked teams.
The third phase will determine who grabs the final world cup spots
Nigeria had entered the tournament with the ambition of retaining their crown but were unable to overcome a determined Cameroonian side.
Cameroon’s decisive goal came in the 19th minute, giving the Lionesses a 1-0 lead which they successfully maintained througout the game .
Though the Super Falcons pushed for an equaliser, the resoluteness of the Cameroonian leaders was too much for them to crack as the Lionesses held on to book their place in the WAFCON semi-finals.
The outcome will come as a huge disappointment to Nigerian football fans and the Super Falcons, who remain Africa’s most successful women’s national team but have now seen their title defence come to an abrupt end.
The failure to qualify for the 2027 World Cup also reopens the wound of the Super Eagles failing to qualify for the senior men’s worldc up that was hosted in Mexico, Canaada nd the United States of America.
,,, Flying Eagles Fail To Fly Over Burkina Faso
Meanwhile, the Flying Eagles lost scandalously 1-4 to the Young Stallons of Burkina Faso in the final of WAFU B U20 and also failed to defend the title, which they won back-to-back in Niger Republic in 2022 and Ghana in 2024.
The loss means Nigeria will miss out of the next AFCON U20, and by implication, the next FIFA U20 world cup.
The Burkinabes had beaten the Flying Eagles in the group stage 2-0 and repeated the same feat when it mattered most,this time 4-1 denying Nigeria an opportunity of being part of the party in Ghana for the AFCON U20.
Wrapping up a horrible day for Nigeria’s sports was the U18 Boys basketball team, who lost 68- 77 to Ivory Coast at the ongoing 2026 U18 Afrobasket in Ivory Coast.
Sunday, August 9, 2026 will go down in history, unarguably as one of the saddest days in Nigeria’s sporting history.
