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The Super Falcons came close to beating England during the round of 16 clash at the just concluded FIFA Women's World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.
The Nigerian women’s soccer team is regarded as the strongest in Africa, but they were unable to win this year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as they were eliminated in the round of 16. Could the Super Falcons win this tournament the next time it’s played?
How Did the 2023 World Cup Go for Nigeria?
The Nigerian women’s team has made it to every World Cup since 1991, but they’ve only made it into the last eight on a single occasion. For this year’s event, hopes were high, and the Super Falcons finished second in Group B, behind Australia, after a win and two draws.
In the round of 16, Nigeria faced the English women, who are regarded as one of the top teams in the sport. The African ladies dominated the game and also had an advantage when English player Lauren James received a red card. However, despite the widespread opinion that Nigeria deserved to win the game, it ended 0-0 after 120 minutes and England progressed to the next round with a 4-2 win on penalties.
So, what went wrong for Nigeria? The truth is that the Super Falcons came close to beating England, as they hit the bar on a couple of occasions. However, it’s a fine line between victory and defeat at this level of sport and the Nigerian team was unable to press home their advantage during this game. A look at the way the Nigerian players rated shows that Ashleigh Plumtree was the best player on the pitch and unlucky not to score.
The final of this tournament is scheduled for the Stadium Australia in Sydney on August 20. At the time of writing, England are now favorites to win the trophy, followed by Spain and Japan. For those fans who are following the Women's World Cup at home, free-to-air TV has allowed to compare the different teams and make their own decisions on who they think will win.
Can They Get It Right in 2027?
No decision has yet been made on which country will host the next Women’s World Cup. In fact, the venue won’t be announced until the 74th FIFA Congress takes place in May 2024. The bids that are left in the running at this stage are from Brazil, South Africa, the US and Mexico, and a joint bid from Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany.
With no more bids now accepted, the host of the 2027 event will be selected from those four venues listed earlier. If the World Cup is held in Africa for the first time in its history, this could give Nigeria an advantage, although we should remember the men’s team's relatively uninspired performance at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as a warning that playing on African soil isn’t a guarantee of success.
Perhaps some changes in preparation plans would help the them to fulfil their potential. Forward Ifeoma Onumonu pointed out after the defeat against England that the European team had far better preparations than them, as the Nigerian team lacks resources and professional facilities, with the players even having to share beds at the training base sometimes.
There was also a pay dispute in the build-up to the tournament that didn’t help them. Manager Randy Waldrum confirmed that the Nigeria Football Federation hadn’t paid some of their player's expenses or allowances in the last couple of years, while he was owed seven months' wages. The soccer union Fifpro has had to step in to try and help deal with the situation.
While overhauling the infrastructure is a huge task and it’s unlikely that the Nigerian team will enjoy European-type facilities anytime soon, some improvements in the organization would certainly boost the team’s chance of success in 2027. Simply by having better sleeping facilities and higher quality training pitches could help them to reach the next level.
However, the introduction of infrastructure that helps young players to get recognized is crucial. The Falconets U-20 team have performed strongly in the past and last year they reached the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup before losing 2-0 to Netherlands.
The Immediate Future
The 2027 World Cup is still four years away, but there are some important games coming up for the Super Falcons before then. The qualifying rounds for the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations begin in September. Nigeria’s national team is drawn to play against São Tomé and Príncipe in the first round. After that, qualifying for the 2024 Olympics sees the team play Ethiopia in the second round in October.
The Nigeria women’s team can count themselves unlucky to crash out of the World Cup early. However, they won’t have to wait long for a chance to redeem themselves as they need to qualify for other upcoming tournaments. Hopefully, there will be no repeat of the pay disputes and other issues that have hampered their preparations in the past, as they aim to build toward success in 2027.
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