Nigeria/South Africa: Nigeria to Miss Women's World Cup for First Time in Over 30 Years

What the report says

Nigeria will miss the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time since the competition began in 1991 after South Africa beat the Super Falcons 2-1 in a crucial play-off in Casablanca on Thursday, according to Premium Times via AllAfrica. The loss effectively ended Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the 2027 tournament, despite the team’s long record of appearing at every previous edition.

The match followed a difficult WAFCON campaign for Nigeria, who entered the event as defending champions but were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Cameroon after an earlier group-stage setback against Malawi. Coach Justin Madugu had described the South Africa fixture as a chance to recover from that disappointment, but the result instead deepened the team’s setback. Nigeria is Africa’s most successful women’s national side, with 10 continental titles, so the failure to qualify marks a major break from its past record.

South Africa advanced to the FIFA Inter-Confederation Play-Off Tournament alongside Ghana after a disciplined performance. Thembi Kgatlana opened the scoring in the second half, captain Refiloe Jane added a second, and Nigeria’s Christy Ucheibe converted a late penalty to narrow the gap before the final whistle. The defeat underscores a broader challenge for Nigerian football, as several national teams have recently fallen short in key continental and global qualifying campaigns.