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Nigeria face Cameroon in Women’s AFCON quarter-final with Brazil 2027 place at stake
Nigeria will take on familiar rivals Cameroon in a high-stakes Women Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final in Casablanca on Sunday, with victory securing a place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
The defending champions will meet Cameroon’s Lionesses at 18:00 at Stade Larbi Zaouli, seeking to maintain their dominance over one of their most regular opponents in the competition’s history.
The fixture is a repeat of the 2022 Women AFCON quarter-final, when Nigeria edged Cameroon 1-0 to qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Rasheedat Ajibade scored the decisive second-half header in that encounter.
Nigeria’s record against Cameroon in this tournament stretches back to the inaugural edition in 1998, which was hosted by Nigeria. The Super Falcons won that meeting 6-0 in Kaduna.
The teams also contested the finals of the 2014 and 2016 Women AFCON tournaments. In Windhoek on 25 October 2014, goals from Desire Oparanozie and Asisat Oshoala gave Nigeria a 2-0 victory. Two years later, when Cameroon hosted the competition, Oparanozie scored late to settle a closely fought final at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde.
Nigeria have also enjoyed the better of the most recent meetings between the sides. Cameroon won the first match of a two-game tour in Yaounde earlier this year, but Nigeria responded with a 3-1 victory in the second fixture. Chinwendu Ihezuo, Rinsola Babajide and Michelle Alozie scored for the Super Falcons, and all three players are in the squad in Casablanca.
Last year, during preparations for their successful Mission X campaign, Nigeria defeated Cameroon 2-0 in a friendly at the MKO Abiola Sports Arena in Abeokuta.
Coach Justin Madugu could keep faith with the team that defeated Egypt 6-0 in Nigeria’s final Group C match in Rabat on Wednesday. Asisat Oshoala is pushing for a starting place after producing several influential performances in Morocco.
The experienced forward scored the only goal in Nigeria’s win against Zambia, finding the net early in the match, before converting a penalty to help defeat Egypt. Oshoala had also scored twice in Nigeria’s two pre-tournament friendly victories over Senegal in Ikenne-Remo.
Madugu will be able to call on defender Tosin Demehin and midfielder Jennifer Echegini after both missed the victory over Egypt through suspension.
“Our objective remains picking the World Cup ticket and then going ahead to retain the trophy. Nothing has changed,” Madugu said.
The quarter-final is being played at the same Casablanca venue where Nigeria staged most of their matches during last year’s successful Mission X campaign. The Super Falcons must now overcome Cameroon once again if they are to continue their title defence and book their place at Brazil 2027.
