Super Falcons’ 2027 World Cup Hopes Alive Despite WAFCON Exit

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Super Falcons can still qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup despite losing to Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) on Sunday.

Nigeria, the 10-time African champions, were beaten 1-0 by the Lionesses after conceding an early free-kick goal, ruling them out of contention for one of Africa’s four automatic tickets to next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

However, the Super Falcons still have another opportunity to secure a place at the tournament, albeit through a longer qualification route.

The Nigerian side will join the three other quarter-final losers — South Africa, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire — in the continental play-offs.

Following their defeat to Cameroon on Sunday, the Super Falcons will quickly regroup to face South Africa on Thursday.

A victory over Banyana Banyana will earn Nigeria one of the two available continental play-off tickets.

The two teams that emerge from the continental play-offs will then advance to the global play-off tournament, where they will battle for the final remaining places at the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

According to FIFA, the first phase of the global play-off tournament will take place in November and December 2026 at a centralised venue and will feature six teams — two from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), two from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), one from the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) and one from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).

“Using a format which will be confirmed at a later date, two teams will qualify for the final play-off phase,” FIFA stated on its website.

The final play-off phase will be held at a centralised location in February 2027, with the two qualifiers from the first phase joined by two teams from Concacaf, one from CONMEBOL and one from UEFA.

The six teams will be drawn into three paths, with a direct knockout match in each path determining the final three teams to qualify for the World Cup. Teams from the same confederation will not be drawn in the same pathway.

This means only three teams from the global play-off tournament will ultimately secure places at the World Cup in South America next year.

The Super Falcons, therefore, have little room for error if they are to maintain their record of appearing at every edition of the Women’s World Cup since the tournament was introduced in 1991.

At the 2023 World Cup, Nigeria reached the Round of 16 before losing to eventual finalists England on penalties.