‘An absolute afterthought’: the story of the Nigeria women’s team’s fall from grace

Nigeria’s Super Falcons have missed the Women’s World Cup for the first time after losing 2-1 to South Africa in an August playoff. The defeat ended the record 10-time African champions’ run of appearing at every tournament and will cost them a major chance for global exposure and development funding.

Nigeria reached the playoff after losing to Cameroon in the Wafcon quarter-finals, with only the semi-finalists qualifying automatically. The article says limited preparation, few friendlies and frequent changes to the starting line-up may have weakened the team’s cohesion; meanwhile, Malawi will make its World Cup debut, and South Africa still has a playoff route.