Nigeria’s Super Falcons are in Group C at WAFCON 2026 in Morocco alongside Zambia, Egypt and Malawi. All three opponents have been logging competitive minutes in recent weeks. The Falcons have not played since March, with a planned April double-header against Cape Verde cancelled at short notice.
The 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations draw has placed the Super Falcons in Group C, and the picture that emerges from looking at their opponents’ recent schedules is an uncomfortable one. Zambia, Egypt and Malawi have all been active in April. Nigeria have not. A planned home double-header against Cape Verde in Ikenne was cancelled when the opponents withdrew, leaving the Falcons without a single match this month at a critical point in their preparation for a tournament that runs from July 25 to August 16 in Morocco.
Nigeria’s last competitive outing came in early March, when they faced Cameroon in Yaoundé. The results told a mixed story: a 1-0 defeat in the first match followed by a 3-1 win in the second, with Esther Okoronkwo, Rinsola Babajide and Michelle Alozie all scoring. That response showed the squad’s quality when it clicks. The problem is that clicking requires rhythm and repetition, and the cancellation of the April fixtures has taken a month of preparation time that cannot be recovered before the tournament opens. Fans backing the Super Falcons at WAFCON can use the Bet9ja’s YOHAIG welcome bonus ahead of the tournament at bet9japromotioncode.com.ng.
What Nigeria’s Rivals Have Been Doing
Zambia have arguably had the most demanding recent schedule of the three Group C opponents. The Copper Queens travelled to Brazil for the FIFA Series and faced some of the world’s best sides, including a 4-0 defeat to Canada on April 11. That result flattered the margin less than the quality of the opposition suggests. Earlier in the year they beat Zimbabwe 3-1 and lost narrowly to Namibia, a run that shows a team capable of both results. With additional fixtures against Brazil and South Korea still to come this week, Zambia will arrive at WAFCON battle-hardened by genuine world-level competition. Super Falcons supporters following the WAFCON preparations can also access the latest Bet9ja promotion code before the tournament.
Egypt’s form is less convincing. They lost 3-0 and 3-2 to Algeria across two February matches, successive defeats that exposed defensive vulnerabilities the Pharaoh Queens will need to address before Morocco. They are preparing for a double-header against Saudi Arabia in mid-April, which should provide an opportunity to rebuild structure and confidence. Egypt at their best remain capable of causing problems, but back-to-back losses to Algeria at this stage is not the form of a tournament contender.
Malawi sit somewhere in between. The Scorchers opened the year impressively, beating Lesotho 8-1 in February and then edging Angola 1-0 days later. But the limitations showed in defeats to South Africa (2-0) and Australia (5-0 at the FIFA Series in Nairobi on April 11). Malawi can hurt weaker sides but struggle against elite opposition, a pattern that may work in Nigeria’s favour if the Falcons can find early-tournament sharpness.
The Challenge for Justine Madugu and the Falcons
The pressure now falls squarely on head coach Justine Madugu and the Super Falcons’ technical team to find some form of preparation before the July tournament. The WAFCON has expanded to 16 teams this year, meaning only the top two from each group progress automatically to the quarter-finals. There is no longer the safety of a third-place route through the knockouts. Every group game carries weight, and arriving with less match practice than Zambia in particular is a genuine concern. Beyond qualifying from the group, the broader stakes are significant: the four WAFCON semi-finalists earn automatic berths at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil. Nigerian women’s football fans following the Falcons can stay updated at FootballInNigeria.com.ng and access the Bet9ja welcome bonus ahead of Nigeria’s Group C campaign.
📌 Did You Know?
- The Super Falcons have won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations eleven times, more than any other nation, making Nigeria the undisputed most successful side in the history of the competition.
- WAFCON 2026 will be hosted by Morocco, the same country that staged the 2022 Women’s AFCON, where Zambia memorably shocked Tunisia 4-0 to reach the semi-finals, signalling the rise of the Copper Queens as a continental force.
- The expansion of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations to 16 teams from 2022 was a landmark moment for women’s football on the continent, allowing more countries to compete at the highest African level and broadening the development pathway.
- Malawi’s 8-1 victory over Lesotho in February 2026 was one of the largest winning margins in the Scorchers’ recent history and reflects the significant gap between the continent’s mid-tier sides and the smaller associations at the bottom of the African women’s football pyramid.
- Rasheedat Ajibade, one of the Super Falcons’ key attacking players, plays for Paris Saint-Germain in France’s Division 1 Feminine, giving Nigeria one of the highest-profile European club players in the African women’s game heading into WAFCON 2026.
- The 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held in Brazil, the first time the tournament returns to South America and the first time it is hosted by a nation other than Germany, Australia, the United States, Canada, France, China or Sweden since the competition’s inception in 1991.
- Zambia’s appearance at the FIFA Series in Brazil reflects the Copper Queens’ growing investment in high-quality preparation tours, a strategy that has helped them develop rapidly from fringe contenders to genuine threats at continental level over the past four years.
