International Football
Our ambition at World Cup is moderate, says Super Falcons’ coach, Waldrum
Super Falcons may have no aim at getting to the final, let alone to win the cup when the Women’s World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand later this year.
Their ambition is limited to navigating the group stage in which they will play against Australia, Ireland and Canada.
The team which has been without a win in their last five matches since beating Cameroon 1-0 on 14 July 2022 to pick qualification ticket for the World Cup. According to a media release from the Nigeria Football Federation, the coach of the Nigerian team, Randy Waldrum targets qualification from the Group B for the Round of 16.
In Nigeria’s past eight attendances, the team scaled the group stage only twice – 1999 and 2019.
The limited ambition is based on their past and current performances.
“After the disappointment of failing to make the dream of La Decima (The Tenth) come true at the 12th Women Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in staged by Morocco last year – the Super Falcons even failing to make the podium for the first time in many years – Head Coach Randy Waldrum is optimistic of an impressive performance at the forthcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup finals coming up in Australia & New Zealand in the summer”, reads the NFF release.
The American tactician is full of optimism, and is confident that his team can go far in the global tournament, but insists they have to take it one step at a time to achieve greatness.
“The first target for us at the World Cup is to advance out of the group stage,” Waldrum told the thenff.com.
“Everyone wants to get to the knockout stage but obviously in order to achieve that, you have to advance out of the group,
and now, our focus is principally on doing that.”
The Super Falcons survived a huge scare at the 12th Women Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. Even though the team finished in fourth place, thereby picking the last automatic ticket from Africa to Australia & New Zealand, Nigerians saw it as a disappointing outing, and rightly so. For a team that had won nine of the previous 11 editions of the competition, losing three out of its six matches in Morocco was seen as a disaster.
The team lost to eventual champions South Africa narrowly in the opening match, and then lost to the host nation Morocco via the lottery of penalty shootout in the semi finals – with two key players red-carded. As it turned out, the Falcons failed to overcome the set-back as they eventually lost to Zambia in the third-place match by a lone goal.
Waldrum would want to quickly wipe out such an unflattering record with a better and improved performance by the most successful women’s team in Africa at the forthcoming World Cup to be co-hosted Down Under.
Nigeria will tackle Olympic champions Canada, co-hosts Australia and Republic of Ireland in the group stage of the biggest FIFA Women’s World Cup finals ever, in group B of the tournament that begins on 20th July. Australia & New Zealand 2023 is the first time that the FIFA Women’s World Cup will welcome 32 teams – the same number as the men’s tournament.
The Falcons will be domiciled in Brisbane where they will play two of their three matches, with the other game in another Australian city, Melbourne.
Nigeria is in the elite group of only seven countries that have never failed to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup since the competition was launched in China 32 years ago.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles were held to a 2-2 draw by FIFA World Cup-bound Jordan in an eventful international friendly in Antalya on Tuesday night, with the contest overshadowed by a late red card to Alex Iwobi.
Iwobi, making his 98th appearance for the national team, was sent off in the closing stages, capping a dramatic encounter in which Nigeria surrendered a first-half lead and finished the game with ten men.
The match, played at the Mardan Sports Complex, brought Nigeria’s March international window to a close, but it proved anything but routine as both sides delivered a fiercely contested and entertaining clash.
Jordan, ranked 64th in the world and enjoying strong recent form, struck first in the 17th minute through Mousa Tamari. A well-worked free-kick routine caught the Nigerian defence napping, allowing the forward to fire home the opener.
Nigeria responded quickly and thought they had equalised six minutes later when Raphael Onyedika finished from a Moses Simon cut-back, but the goal was controversially ruled out.
The Super Eagles eventually drew level in the 30th minute. Stand-in captain Moses Simon, earning his 97th cap, reacted fastest after Ademola Lookman’s effort was blocked, slotting home with a composed left-footed finish for his second goal in as many matches.
Nigeria went ahead four minutes before halftime when Bright Osayi-Samuel’s pinpoint cross found debutant Emmanuel Fernandez, who showed great composure to control and finish, giving the three-time African champions a 2-1 lead at the interval.
The second half took on a more physical tone, with goalkeeper Francis Uzoho forced off in the 57th minute after sustaining an injury while clearing the ball. Adebayo Adeleye replaced him between the posts.
Head coach Eric Chelle introduced Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi to shore up the midfield, but Jordan continued to press and were rewarded with an equaliser in the 77th minute.
Nigeria pushed for a winner late on, handing a senior debut to Philip Otele, while Samuel Chukwueze came on for Moses Simon. However, the closing moments were marred by Iwobi’s dismissal, leaving the Super Eagles to see out the match with ten men.
Despite the draw, the encounter offered valuable insights for the coaching crew as Nigeria continues preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
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By Kunle Solaja
Match Context
- Fixture: Jordan vs Nigeria
- Venue: Antalya, Turkey
- Occasion: Four-Nation Invitational Tournament
- Kick-off: Tuesday (evening)
They would have loved facing Jamaica in Mexico today for a place at the World Cup, but fate has other plans, and Nigeria’s Super Eagles will be taking on World Cup debutants Jordan in a friendly match instead in Turkey.
The encounter promises to be a revealing contest for both sides as preparations intensify for future global assignments.
The encounter, staged as part of a four-nation tournament in Turkey, will be the third meeting between the two countries, with the head-to-head record finely poised.
History Beckons in Third Meeting
Nigeria claimed a 2-0 victory in their first clash at the National Stadium, Lagos, on 28 April 2004 during the LG Cup.
However, the tables turned in 2013 when a largely experimental Nigerian side under the late Stephen Keshi suffered a 1-0 defeat in Amman, courtesy of a Hatem Aqel penalty.
This latest meeting now serves as the decider in what has quietly become a balanced rivalry.
Jordan arrive in buoyant mood, riding on the crest of a historic achievement, which is their first-ever qualification for the FIFA World Cup (2026).
Jordan’s Al-Nashama
Their recent form underlines a team growing in confidence and tactical discipline. In the past months, Al-Nashama have:
- Held Russia (0-0)
- Defeated Dominican Republic (3-0)
- Drawn with Mali (0-0)
- Narrowly lost to Bolivia (1-0) and Albania (4-2)
- Pushed Tunisia (3-2 loss) in a competitive encounter
They also opened this invitational tournament with a 2-2 draw against Costa Rica, further evidence of their resilience.
The team’s preparations have been boosted by a morale-lifting visit from Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein, President of the Jordan Football Association, during their Antalya training camp.
Coach Jamal Al-Salami has deliberately scheduled matches against Nigeria and Costa Rica, citing their stylistic similarity to World Cup opponents such as Argentina, Austria, and Algeria.
Despite missing several key players, including star forward Mousa Ta’mari, Jordan have continued to show depth, blending senior players with youth prospects as part of a broader developmental strategy.
Nigeria head into the clash with renewed confidence after a 2-1 victory over Iran in their opening game of the tournament, with goals from Moses Simon and Akor Adams.
Unlike previous meetings, the Super Eagles are expected to field a full-strength squad, packed with Europe-based stars, something Jordanian observers have already described as a “heavyweight challenge.”
The squad boasts a blend of experience and attacking flair.
The presence of multiple attacking options gives Nigeria a clear edge going forward, while their physicality and pace could pose serious problems for the Jordanians.
Jordan are expected to adopt a compact, disciplined shape, relying on quick transitions and defensive organisation, qualities that earned them results against stronger opposition in recent friendlies.
Nigeria, by contrast, will likely dominate possession, using width and individual brilliance to break down Jordan’s defensive lines.
The key battle may lie in midfield, where Jordan’s structure will be tested against Nigeria’s blend of strength, technique, and tempo.
For Jordan, this is another step in fine-tuning a squad preparing for its historic World Cup debut—a chance to measure themselves against elite opposition.
For Nigeria, it is an opportunity to assert authority, build cohesion among its star-studded squad, and maintain momentum ahead of more competitive fixtures.
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A clash of kit colours caused confusion for players and made it difficult for fans watching on TV to tell the teams apart as World Cup co-hosts, the U.S., were accused of being responsible for a mix-up in a 5-2 friendly defeat by Belgium on Saturday.
Both teams used the match to launch the new kit they will wear at the June 11 to July 19 World Cup, which is also being held in Canada and Mexico.
The U.S. sported a design that pulls directly from the red and white stripes in the American flag, while Belgium wore their away kit, which was light blue with pink accents.
“Sometimes you had to look twice, especially if you wanted to play quickly,” Belgian winger Jeremy Doku told his national television afterwards. “I would have preferred clearer colours.”
American captain Christian Pulisic said it was difficult to deal with.
“A lot of times you get the ball, and you look up, you can’t really lock in on something. You can only base it on the colour of the shirt. That’s how it works,” he told reporters. “And when it’s very similar, it’s difficult.”
Belgian television apologised to viewers after the match, with analyst and former Belgian international Marc Degryse criticising organisers.
“Football is a product that needs to be sold. Everything always has to be better and better, yet they still managed to make the match annoying with the jerseys,” he said.
“This goes completely against the whole commercial aspect. This is really unacceptable.”
US Soccer said pictures of both jerseys were sent to match referees before the match, and at no time did they indicate they felt there was a conflict.
Belgian media said on Sunday the fault lay with the hosts, who insisted on playing in their new red and white jerseys, which clashed with both Belgium’s first-choice red strip and also the lighter away kit.
Both countries wanted to unveil their new jerseys for the first time, but after becoming aware of the situation, Belgium proposed to play in their traditional red, the reports said.
However, that was not an option because the U.S. shirt also contains a lot of red. One solution could have been for the U.S. to play in their dark blue kit, but that did not fit into their commercial plan, the reports added.
-Reuters
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