Nigeria’s Super Falcons remain in contention for a place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, despite being knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
The 10-time continental champions were beaten 1-0 by Cameroon on Sunday after conceding in the opening stages. The defeat ended their chance of claiming one of Africa’s four direct World Cup berths available through the tournament.
Nigeria can still reach the finals via the CAF play-offs, which will also feature the other quarter-final casualties: South Africa, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
The Falcons will meet South Africa on Thursday, knowing that a win would guarantee one of the two places allocated to Africa in the play-off competition.
Those two CAF winners will advance to an intercontinental play-off tournament, where they will battle for the remaining World Cup positions.
FIFA has confirmed that the opening stage of that global event is scheduled for November and December 2026 at a centralised location. Six nations will take part: two representatives from the Asian Football Confederation, two from CAF, one from CONMEBOL and one from the Oceania Football Confederation.
The competition format for that stage is yet to be finalised, but two teams will progress to the concluding round.
The final phase is due to be played in February 2027. The two survivors will be joined by two teams from CONCACAF, another side from CONMEBOL and one representative from UEFA.
Those six nations will be separated into three qualification routes. Each route will feature a single knockout game, with the winners taking the last three places at the World Cup.
In total, only three teams will qualify for the tournament in Brazil through the worldwide play-off pathway.
That leaves Nigeria with no room for another loss if they are to preserve their record of appearing at every Women’s World Cup since the competition was first staged in 1991.
At the 2023 edition in Australia and New Zealand, the Super Falcons reached the last 16. Their run ended against eventual finalists England, who prevailed in a penalty shootout.
