Sports

Super Falcons Miss 2027 World Cup After South Africa Defeat

Published August 14, 2026 at 4:05 AM

Nigeria’s Super Falcons will miss the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time in history after suffering a 2-1 defeat to South Africa in their African qualification play-off on Thursday.

The defeat ended Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the 2027 tournament after the defending Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champions had earlier lost to Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the 2026 WAFCON.

Nigeria were handed another opportunity through the qualification play-offs, but South Africa emerged victorious to advance to the intercontinental play-offs.

The result means the Super Falcons will be absent from the Women’s World Cup for the first time since the competition was inaugurated in 1991.

Nigeria had participated in every edition of the Women’s World Cup since the inaugural competition and entered the 2026 WAFCON as defending African champions and record title holders.

Their failure to qualify therefore represents one of the biggest setbacks in the history of the women’s national team.

The Super Falcons had gone into the continental tournament among the favourites but their quarter-final elimination by Cameroon meant they could no longer claim one of the automatic World Cup places awarded to the semi-finalists.

The play-off against South Africa offered another route to qualification, but the former African champions ended Nigeria’s campaign with a 2-1 victory.

Meanwhile, Cameroon will face surprise package Malawi in the final of the 2026 WAFCON.

Cameroon defeated hosts Morocco 3-1 on penalties after their semi-final ended goalless following extra time.

Malawi also continued their remarkable run at the competition to book a historic appearance in the final.

The Malawians entered the tournament as one of the lowest-ranked sides but have emerged as one of its biggest surprises.

Nigeria remain the most successful team in the history of the WAFCON with 10 titles, while Equatorial Guinea and South Africa are the only other nations to have previously lifted the continental trophy.