For the better part of July 2025, the focus of football on the continent will mostly revolve around the rescheduled 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), which is set to take centre stage in Morocco from July 5 to 26. It’s the 15th edition of African women’s football’s premier tournament, and just like in past editions over the decades, the Super Falcons of Nigeria are still the undisputed giants.

The Nigeria women’s senior team head into WAFCON 2024 as the only side to have featured in all previous editions, with their worst campaign being a semifinal finish. With nine titles already to their name, their campaign in Morocco has been dubbed “Mission X” in pursuit of a record-extending 10th continental title.

Their campaign begins on Sunday, July 6, against Tunisia, before facing their other Group B opponents, Botswana and Algeria, on July 10 and 13, respectively. Anything short of a top-place group stage finish for the Super Falcons would count as an early upset. But having missed a medal finish for the first time in the 2022 edition, which South Africa won, and given the mixed fortunes of the team at the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics, surely there are legitimate shadows of doubt over the team’s quest for the trophy even from the most optimistic observers.

As with any sports team, the calibre and experience of the head coach are significant factors that often give an insight into a team’s chances in a competition. 

For Nigeria’s Super Falcons, Justin Magudu’s profile hardly makes a compelling case. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) appointed Magudu as the Falcons’ interim coach in September 2024 after American tactician Randy Waldrum resigned from the role due to personal reasons.

Having served as part of the Falcons’ coaching crew in a number of games and campaigns, including the triumph in the 2018 WAFCON, there was most likely no better local option than Magudu to take over the Falcons’ reins. The WAFCON 2024 being his first major tournament as head coach, however, does pile on expectations. Not that the former Adamawa United manager has performed poorly in the matchups leading to the WAFCON. He has, in fact, done relatively well, winning the friendly games he ought to win against Algeria, Cameroon, and recently Ghana, and faltered against world-class sides, with a loss to France and a draw with Portugal.

As far as results go, they were quite solid, but not entirely convincing, given that the African opponents the Falcons comfortably dispatched were hardly strong tests. Whether this level of performance can be sustained in the heat of competition is anyone’s guess, but former head coach Waldrum is convinced that any success the team achieves won’t be down to the coaching staff.

“I don’t think the current Super Falcons coaching crew is on the level it needs to be,” the American tactician told EaglesTracker in a recent interview. “But the players can still win the WAFCON. If the right players are selected, there’s enough talent and hunger, based on what we built at the Olympics and World Cup, to reclaim the WAFCON title. But they’ll be doing it in spite of the coaching.”

There wasn’t much to dwell on in the Super Falcons’ 25-woman squad list, barring the return of six-time CAF Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala and Ashleigh Plumptre, both of whom haven’t been in the colours of the Falcons for over a year for different reasons. With the inclusion of other  WAFCON champions like Chiamaka Nnadozie, Francisca Ordega and captain Rasheedat Ajibade, and the 11 debutants, it’s fair to say that the Falcons’ squad for the WAFCON ticks most of the right boxes.

That said, when players’ capabilities and tactical ingenuity hit their ceiling at a tournament of this magnitude, it’s often the intangible off-pitch motivation and support that comes into full play. This edge remains missing in Nigeria’s camp. The ladies have never ceased talking about the pittance they receive from the NFF, along with the insufficient personnel and persistent media deficit. With little improvement on these fronts, one can say the Super Falcons, once again, only have themselves to rely on, and only for so long can they keep the fire burning against opponents that are closing the gap.