The Super Falcons of Nigeria, on Thursday defeated Australia 3-2 at the Brisbane Stadium.
The Nigerian female beat their opponent to record their first win in the competition and the fifth win in the history of the Women’s World Cup.
Before the match, the the nine-time African champions have recorded only four wins in the history of the competition – two at the 1999 edition (against North Korea and Denmark), against Canada in 2011, and at the 2019 edition, where they also recorded a 2-0 win over North Korea.
With the win, the Super Falcon’s chance of reaching the round of 16 have been boosted after Canada secured a 2-1 victory against Ireland on Wednesday.
Read Also: Australia Vs Nigeria: How Super Falcons May Line Out Against Matildas
Emily van Egmond, who started in place of the injured Sam Kerr did well to convert Caitlin Foord’s cut-back.
Five minutes later, the teams were on level terms. Rasheedat Ajibade’s cross was deflected into the path of Uchenna Kanu, and she calmly slotted home.
The Matildas started the second half the brighter of the two sides but the West Africans were resolute in defence.
Against the run of play, Nigeria won a corner; the ball was not cleared and despite MacKenzie Arnold’s initial save, the rebound fell kindly to Osinachi Ohale who headed home to make it 2-1 in the 65th minute.
Barcelona attacker Asisat Oshoala then capitalised on poor communication at the back between the defender and the goalkeeper to score the Super Falcon’s third.
Alanna Kennedy scored in the ninth minute of added time to make it 3-2 and set up a tense finale, but the Super Falcons held on to grab maximum points.
The win put the Super Falcons on top of Group B with four points, the same as Canada who defeated the Republic of Ireland 2-1 and drew 0-0 with Nigeria.
The Girls in Green have already been eliminated from the competition after losing their two matches in the pool.
The Matildas are on three points and must defeat Canada in their final group game to stand a chance of making it to the next phase.
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