The Super Falcons of Nigeria have failed to qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
The team lost 2-1 to South Africa in their continental playoff on Thursday at the Stade Moulay Rachid in Casablanca, Morocco.
Falcons’ World Cup hopes were reduced to the playoffs after they lost 1-0 to Cameroon in the quarter-final of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON). Only the teams that reached the WAFCON semi-final earned the four automatic tickets for African countries.
The four losing teams in the quarter-finals were given a second chance and a longer route to clinch one of the three non-automatic World Cup tickets through the inter-confederational playoffs.
Falcons were drawn against the Bayana Bayana for a place in the inter-confederational playoffs, but the team yet again failed to utilise the advantage.
The South Africans went two goals up early in the second half with strikes from Thembi Kgatlana and Refiloe Jane. Before Christy Ucheibe pulled one back for the Falcons late in the game as they laboured in futility to force the match into extra time.
Nigeria will miss the women’s World Cup for the first time since its inception in 1991.
Banyana Banyana advance to the first phase of the interconfederational playoffs for the World Cup, scheduled for Brazil in June next year.