They are also one of the few teams in the world and only African team to have qualified for every edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, with their best performance at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup where they reached the quarterfinals.
The Super Falcons have been able to dominate beyond Africa in such arenas as the FIFA Women's World Cup or the Olympic Games however. The team has been to every World Cup since 1991, but managed just once to finish in the top two. In 2003, the Super Falcons turned out to be the biggest disappointment of the first round, failing to score a single goal and losing all three Group A matches. They did little better in 2007, drawing only one of their Group B matches. However, they faced the group of death in both 2003 and 2007, grouped both times with rising Asian power North Korea, traditional European power Sweden, and a historic women's superpower in the USA.
Nigeria hosted the African women's championship finals for the third time in 2001 which were then canceled due to a severe outbreak of gang induced violence within the Nigerian area, replacing Gabon, which was initially granted the right to host but later pulled out citing financial difficulties, and won it for the seventh time in a row. Nigeria's Super Falcons and Ghana's Black Queens represented Africa in China for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Super Falcons come back by bus after a training sessionAshleigh Plumptre played numerous games for the Nigeria women's national football team
The "Flamingoes" are the country's cadet team (U-17), which qualified for the inaugural women's U-17 World Cup New Zealand 2008. Nigeria qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup where they were placed in Group A with South Korea, Norway and hosts France.
The Super Falcons have consistently clashed with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over back pay, unpaid bonuses, daily allowances, and poor facilities. These disputes have resulted in sit‑in protests, training boycotts, or threats to boycott several key tournaments:
2004 – Following their AWCON victory in Johannesburg, players staged a three-day sit-in at their hotel over unpaid bonuses. President Olusegun Obasanjo intervened and paid ₦1 million to each player.[4][5]
2007 – At the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the team boycotted training over unpaid back pay after their group match against Sweden. The dispute was resolved ahead of their final group match against the United States.[6]
2016 – After winning AWCON, players refused to leave their hotel for 13 days and marched to the National Assembly demanding unpaid bonuses (~US$23,650 per player).[7]
2019 – After their World Cup exit in France, players staged a sit-in protest in their hotel over unpaid bonuses and allowances.[8][9]
2022 – During WAFCON in Morocco, the Falcons boycotted training ahead of the third-place playoff due to unpaid match bonuses.[10][11]
2023 – Ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the NFF canceled players’ match bonuses and delayed grant disbursements. FIFPRO announced support for the players. Head coach Randy Waldrum accused the NFF of withholding salaries and mismanaging funds, which led to internal backlash.[12][13][14]
Team image
Nicknames
The Nigeria women's national football team has been known or nicknamed as the "Super Falcons".
↑ Hausa: Kungiyar kwallon kafa ta mata ta Najeriya, Igbo: Ndị otu egwuregwu bọọlụ ụmụ nwanyị nke mba Naịjirịa
↑ CAF does not award an official title to the winner in 1991 and 1995. The first champion is registered from the 1998 edition onwards. However, it considers the 1991 and 1995 as official tournaments, counting the number of participations from 1991 onwards.
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(7 August 2025) [2] 
Nigeria 5–1 Ghana 
Norway 8–0 Nigeria 
Germany 8–0 Nigeria 
France 8–0 Nigeria 
