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Although the Super Falcons did not advance beyond the round of 16 in the ongoing 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, they lost gallantly. The Super Falcons lost 4-2 to the Three Lionesses of England on penalties after 120 minutes of gruelling encounter. Despite the loss, soccer-loving Nigerians, political leaders and fans of the team have applauded the girls’ superb performance. The July 20 to August 20, 2023 tournament is the 9th edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The FIFA quadrennial international women’s football championship is contested by women’s national teams as against the previous 24 teams. The new format replicates the same format used for the men’s World Cup from 1998 to 2022. This year’s tournament has 32 teams from six confederations. It is also the first FIFA Women’s World Cup with more than one host nation.
Prior to the round of 16 explosive clash, the nine-time African champions defeated co-host, Australia 3-2, drew with Canada and Ireland to finish second in Group B, which soccer pundits tagged, ‘Group of Death.’ Apart from Nigeria, other African teams that made the round of 16 included South Africa and Morocco. This is also the first time Africa is having three teams at the knockout stage at FIFA Women’s world Cup. Unfortunately, the three teams did not go beyond the round of 16. Regardless of the defeat, African teams have demonstrated that there are no minnows in the Women’s World Cup any longer with their brilliant performance. At the same time, the sterling performance of African teams proved many soccer pundits wrong.
The game witnessed many upsets as the United States, the defending champions, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina and Canada had crashed out. This is also the second time the Super Falcons would reach the round of 16. The first one was in 2019. However, the Nigerian side qualified for the quarter final in 1999. Therefore, it is our hope that the Falcons and other African teams will go beyond the round of 16 in the next FIFA Women’s World Cup. An African team winning the Women’s World Cup one day is a possibility.
We commend the Super Falcons for their brave performance and utmost patriotism in the games. The Falcons and their handlers should be handsomely rewarded for making all of us proud. The team should be supported and encouraged to do more in the next tournament. This entails more exposure to world-class training facilities and nurturing. The team’s welfare, including payment of all outstanding allowances and match bonuses should be given priority attention. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) should stop playing politics with the welfare of the Super Falcons and their handlers. Rather, the NFF leadership needs to build on the sterling performance of the Super Falcons at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and raise the bar of female football in Africa. Since the end of one tournament marks the beginning of another, the NFF and the team managers should commence the preparation for the next Women’s world Cup immediately.
While it is not in doubt that African female football has come of age, there is still more work to be done to enhance the fortunes of women football on the continent. Obviously, African teams did so well in this tournament but were sadly pitted against strong opposition, especially at the round of 16.
Moving forward, there is urgent need to enhance the standard of women’s football in Africa through domestic leagues in the various countries. African governments should encourage the development of female grassroots football competitions to discover more talents that abound on the continent. It is cheering that the Falcons’ good performance came on the heels of the victory of Nigeria’s D’Tigress at the 2023 FIFA Women’s Afrobasket Championship in Kigali, Rwanda. The four-time African champions defeated Senegal 84-74 to claim their record 4-peat wins.
We congratulate the D’Tigress team and their handlers and urge them to continue to excel in the game. The government should adequately reward them and their handlers. We call on the government to commit more resources to the development of sports in the country. In addition to unifying the country, sports can be used to create more jobs for the youths.
