Super Falcons set to kickstart WAFCON as Jungle King

Nigeria open their WAFCON 2026 title defence against debutants Malawi tonight. History says the group stage is where the Falcons are at their most ruthless, but Zambia are lurking.

The Super Falcons, the biggest name in African women’s football, begin the defence of their crown today, Tuesday, 28th July, when they face debutants Malawi under the Rabat floodlights. Kick-off is 9:00 pm Nigerian time at the Al Madina Stadium, the same city where, barely a year ago, they clawed back from two goals down to beat hosts Morocco 3-2 and lift a record-extending 10th title.

The Title Defense Begins #TheQueens | #SoarSuperFalcons | #WAFCON2026 pic.twitter.com/xQNIIT7WLo

— NGSuper_Falcons (@NGSuper_Falcons) July 28, 2026

The Falcons have proved, time and again, to be a force to be reckoned with in women’s football on the continent and beyond its shores. Having won that 10th crown last year in Morocco, they are back on the very same terrain to hunt an 11th. Line up all sixteen teams in this expanded tournament, and it is still hard to look past the Nigerian side to pack the trophy into their bag once more.

What are the odds for the Super Falcons?

Nigeria are heavy favourites to win a record 11th title, and a group-stage exit would rank as a major shock. The more realistic debate is not whether they escape Group C but which side of the knockout draw they land on and whether a collision with Morocco or South Africa arrives before the final.

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations did not begin with a group format when it launched in 1991. Back then, only eight teams took part, and it was straight into the knockout rounds, where Nigeria brushed Ghana aside in a two-legged affair on their way to the title. The same story played out in 1995. It was in 1998, on home soil, that the first group-stage tournament was organised, and Nigeria treated it as a coronation, sweeping their group with the maximum nine points, fifteen goals scored, and none conceded.

Across the thirteen editions since, that dominance is written into the numbers. In roughly thirty-nine group matches, the Falcons have won thirty, drawn five and lost only four, scoring 101 goals and conceding just fourteen, with a goal against them barely once every three games. Five of those campaigns were flawless nine-point runs: 1998, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2014. And in every single edition, without exception, Nigeria has walked out of the group and into the knockouts.

In 2000, Nigeria suffered their first WAFCON draw and conceded for the first time in the group phase, a hint that the field was beginning to close the gap. Two years later, in 2002, they tasted a group defeat yet still lifted the crown. Their genuinely uneasy years were 2008 and 2012, the only two editions in this run when they failed to top their group with authority. On both occasions the title left their hands, and on both occasions it was Equatorial Guinea who seized it. 

Nigeria’s group-stage record across 13 WAFCON editions is 30 wins, 5 draws, and 4 losses; 101 scored, and 14 conceded.

The neighbours in Group C

Malawi, known as the Scorchers, arrive as tournament debutants and are rightly cast as outsiders, but they are not here merely for the experience. They won their first COSAFA title in 2023 and carry real danger in sisters Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga, whose pace on the counter can trouble any defence. A 4-0 warm-up loss to Ghana, though, tempered expectations on the eve of the finals.

Meanwhile, Falcons can boast of a strong attacking frontline, especially with the return of Monday Gift, to the team.

Zambia is the reason nobody in the Nigerian camp is relaxing. The 2022 bronze medallists boast one of the most fearsome attacks on the continent, spearheaded by captain Barbra Banda, the 2024 BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year, alongside Racheal Kundananji. This is the fixture that will define Nigeria’s group.

Egypt returns after a decade away from the tournament. Untested against Nigeria at this level, they are the great unknown of the group, though by the time the two meet on 5th August, the Falcons may already have qualification wrapped up.

Head-to-heads

Against Malawi, there is no history to lean on; this is the first meeting between the two nations. But Nigeria’s record against debutants is a warning shot in itself: sixteen wins and a single draw in seventeen such matches, sixty-seven goals scored and only four conceded. The lone blemish was a goalless draw with Tunisia in 2008, and, tellingly, that was one of the Falcons’ off years.

Against Zambia, the numbers still favour Nigeria, but not without respect. In four senior meetings, the Falcons have won three to Zambia’s one, outscoring them fifteen goals to one across those games and, most recently, dismantling the Copper Queens 5-0 in the quarter-finals of the last WAFCON. It is dominance, but Zambia has the personnel to make it a contest.

Against Egypt, there is simply no book to open. The two have never met, which makes the final group game a genuine step into the unknown, however academic the stakes may be by then.

Any upsets?

Twice, in 2008 and 2012, a stumble in the group foreshadowed a lost crown, and on both occasions Equatorial Guinea pounced. If the Falcons stumble in the group stages, it has to be from the Zambians. The Copper Queens arrive with pedigree and firepower, and Nigeria has beaten them in three of four meetings.

Malawi, for all their debutant billing, should not be dismissed either. The Chawinga sisters offer pace and an end product on the break, and if Nigeria switch off at the back as they did against Tunisia in 2008, even a first-timer can steal a point.

According to coach Justine Madugu, he said the Falcons won’t underestimate the Malawians today.

All eyes on tomorrow’s clash with Malawi .#TheQueens | #SoarSuperFalcons pic.twitter.com/0jPLMnmvg1

— NGSuper_Falcons (@NGSuper_Falcons) July 27, 2026

The group stage has long been the Super Falcons’ fortress, and everything suggests they will march out of Group C as they always have, with their eyes fixed on an unprecedented eleventh crown.

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