Nigeria’s Super Falcons have hit an all-time low in their towering footballing history following a 2-1 loss to South Africa’s Banyana Banyana in the 2027 World Cup playoffs at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in Morocco on Thursday.

The loss effectively means that, for the first time in their history, the 10-time African champions will miss out on a World Cup, having featured at every edition of the global tournament since it began in 1991.

Following a shocking quarter-final loss to Cameroon that ended their title defence hopes last Sunday, the Super Falcons needed to beat an equally ousted South Africa side today to keep their World Cup hopes alive by qualifying for the inter-confederation playoffs after failing to secure an automatic ticket that came with making the semi-finals.

As has been the case throughout the tournament, head coach Justin Madugu made personnel changes to his line-up, notably handing Francisca Ordega her first appearance of the tournament. The veteran attacker partnered Asisat Oshoala to form a seasoned attacking duo, but the pairing failed to yield much. 

It was a cagey game that saw Banyana Banyana controlling much of the possession but offering little in the final third against a Nigerian side that seemed content to let them have the ball for the entirety of the first half. 

Much of the same transpired into the opening minutes of the second half, until Thembi Kgatlana brilliantly opened the scoring from a breakaway in the 56th minute, latching onto Hilda Magaia’s pass into the box.

About 21 minutes later, the 2022 WAFCON champions doubled their lead after captain Refiloe Jane fired a loose ball from a resulting corner kick to further put the game out of Nigeria’s reach.

A second yellow card to Jane for handling the ball inside the penalty area allowed the Super Falcons to halve the deficit after Christy Ucheibe effectively dispatched the resulting penalty, but the late goal would do no more than sum up what was a disastrous outing for the 10-time champions.