Nigerian SportThe Super Falcons Are Chasing History: Everything You Need To Know Before WAFCON 2026 Kicks Off

Super Falcons WAFCON 2026 Squad & Fixtures: Full Preview

Nigeria's Super Falcons begin their WAFCON 2026 title defence in Morocco this week, chasing an unprecedented 11th African crown. Squad, group, fixtures  full breakdown.

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While the Super Eagles nurse their World Cup absence, one Nigerian national team is walking into a tournament as the team everybody else is trying to stop. The Super Falcons ten-time African champions, the most successful side in the history of women's football on the continent  are in Morocco this week finalising preparations for a title defence that could make history.

The Squad Madugu Trusts With The Crown

Head coach Justine Madugu has named a 25-player squad built on continuity rather than reinvention, keeping the core of the group that lifted Nigeria's 10th WAFCON title last time out. Captain Rasheedat Ajibade leads the team, flanked by six-time African Women's Footballer of the Year Asisat Oshoala, and Africa's reigning number-one goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie of Brighton & Hove Albion. Veteran defender Osinachi Ohale and midfield stars Jennifer Echegini and Toni Payne round out a squad blending proven winners with rising talent. Forward Francisca Ordega also returns, giving Madugu experienced firepower up front.

Not everyone made the cut, though. Defender Ashleigh Plumptre is a notable absentee, still working her way back from a knee injury that required surgery  a reminder that even champions travel to Morocco with question marks.

The squad breaks down as three goalkeepers, eight defenders, five midfielders, and nine forwards a setup that gives Madugu flexibility to adjust shape depending on the opposition.

What Nigeria Is Walking Into

This is not a routine continental tournament. WAFCON 2026 has expanded to 16 teams for the first time in its history, and the stakes have never been higher: the tournament now doubles as Africa's qualification pathway to the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil. The four semi-finalists will punch automatic tickets to Brazil, while teams eliminated at the quarter-final stage still get a second chance through a play-off route. For a country that has never missed a Women's World Cup since the tournament's inception, that continuity is on the line as much as the trophy.

Nigeria has been drawn into Group C alongside Egypt, Zambia, and tournament debutants Malawi's Scorchers. All of Nigeria's group-stage matches will be played in Rabat, Morocco's administrative capital, with the Super Falcons opening their campaign against Malawi at the Al Madina Stadium on Tuesday, July 28. The tournament itself runs from July 26 to August 16, hosted by Morocco the same country Nigeria beat 3-2 in a dramatic final to win their 10th title last time around.

The Road To Rabat

The squad's build-up hasn't been without turbulence. A high-profile "Jollof Derby" friendly against Ghana's Black Queens in Casablanca was cancelled in the lead-up to the tournament, forcing the Super Falcons to rearrange their preparation schedule. They previously tested themselves against Cameroon's Indomitable Lionesses and Senegal in warm-up friendlies held in Ikenne-Remo, Ogun State, before flying out to a training camp in the coastal Moroccan city of Mohammedia to sharpen up ahead of the group stage.

Why An 11th Title Would Matter More Than The Trophy

Nigeria has won WAFCON 10 times out of 13 editions played — a dominance no other African nation has come close to matching. But this edition carries extra symbolism. It arrives in the same window as heartbreak for the men's team, who failed to qualify for the men's World Cup this cycle and have since slipped in the FIFA rankings, with Egypt overtaking the Super Eagles entirely. For Nigerian football fans starved of a World Cup fix this summer, the Super Falcons' campaign is shaping up to be the patriotic redemption arc the country needs and a direct route back to the World Cup stage via Brazil 2027.

Fixtures To Mark On Your Calendar

July 28: Nigeria vs Malawi Al Madina Stadium, Rabat (Group C opener)

Further Group C fixtures against Zambia and Egypt to follow in Rabat through the group stage

Knockout rounds run through to the final on August 16