Nigeria’s Super Falcons will face South Africa in a winner-takes-all playoff on Thursday with a place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup inter-confederation playoffs at stake. The encounter at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in Casablanca comes after the nine-time African champions missed out on automatic qualification following a 1-0 defeat to Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Head coach Justine Madugu insisted his side remains focused on the remaining pathway. “We have a second chance. We have this second opportunity. We are still going to do the best that we can. We’re not leaving anything out,” Madugu told reporters ahead of the fixture. “We’re going to put in all our best to make sure that we put smiles on the faces of our people because we know what it means to all of us as Nigerians.”
The Super Falcons will meet a familiar rival in Desire Ellis’s Banyana Banyana, who also fell at the quarter-final stage. The victor in Casablanca will advance to the global playoff tournament, where the final berths for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil will be decided.
Earlier in the day, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire will contest the other play-in fixture at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium, also in Casablanca. The winner of that match will secure the second African spot in the inter-confederation playoffs.
Nigeria, the most decorated team in the history of the women’s continental championship, has featured in every edition of the Women’s World Cup since its inception in 1991. Avoiding a first-ever absence from the global stage now hinges on navigating a two-match sudden-death scenario against regional heavyweights South Africa.
