Super Falcons Set For Preparations Ahead of WAFCON

Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, will travel to Morocco on Wednesday, June 25, for a 10-day final training camp in preparation for the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), scheduled to take place from July 5 to 26 in the North African country.

Prior to this, the team will engage in a short training camp in Portugal, which includes an international friendly against the Portuguese women’s national team on Monday, June 23.

A provisional squad list is expected to be unveiled before the friendly. The Falcons will then depart Portugal for Morocco on June 25, where they are set to play a second warm-up match against familiar rivals, Ghana’s Black Queens.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s national team has already arrived in Benslimane, Morocco, for a 14-day pre-tournament camp.

Nigeria, nine-time WAFCON champions, will be aiming for a record-extending 10th title. Since the tournament’s inception in 1998, the Super Falcons have dominated, winning nine out of the 12 editions held, and remain Africa’s most successful women’s football team.

The Falcons also claimed Africa’s sole ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991 (China) and 1995 (Sweden), when there was no official Africa Cup of Nations tournament format in place for women’s football.

Under the guidance of Coach Justin Madugu, Nigeria has been drawn into Group B, where they will face Tunisia, Algeria, and Botswana.

The team will kick off their WAFCON 2024 campaign on July 6 with an opening match against Tunisia at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca.

Following their 2018 triumph, the Super Falcons fell short in their title defence during the 2022 edition, also held in Morocco, finishing in fourth place.

Looking ahead to a stronger performance this time, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has launched a national and international media initiative dubbed “Mission X” — aimed at rallying support for the Super Falcons as they pursue their 10th continental crown.

“We are fully committed to backing the Super Falcons in their mission to win a 10th African title. That is why we’re launching the Mission X campaign — to engage and mobilise Nigerians at home and abroad, of all ages and backgrounds, to support our girls,” said NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, speaking from the United States on Tuesday.

“The Super Falcons are the most decorated national team in African football history. We are proud of their legacy and confident in their determination to write another glorious chapter in Morocco,” he added.