Super Falcons coach Justine Madugu has apologised to Nigerians after Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time in the tournament’s history.
Madugu accepted responsibility following the Falcons’ 2-1 defeat to South Africa in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) play-off at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Speaking after Thursday’s defeat in an interview shared by News Central TV, the coach said the team’s effort was not enough and apologised to Nigerians for the outcome.
“I have to apologise to Nigerians over our inability to make it to the World Cup. We are very sorry. It was not our intention,” Madugu said.
He added that the team had done its best but accepted responsibility for the failure to secure qualification.
Nigeria had already lost its automatic qualification opportunity after a 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Cameroon at the WAFCON. The Falcons were subsequently given another route through the continental play-off.
However, South Africa capitalised on Nigeria’s defensive mistakes in the decisive match.
Thembi Kgatlana opened the scoring in the 56th minute before Refiloe Jane extended South Africa’s advantage with a second goal in the 77th minute.
Nigeria pulled one back in stoppage time through Christy Ucheibe after a VAR review awarded the Falcons a penalty. The decision also resulted in Jane being shown a red card.
Despite the late breakthrough and numerical advantage, Nigeria could not find an equaliser and South Africa secured the victory.
Madugu said Nigeria had created enough opportunities to win the game but failed to convert them, while individual mistakes at the back allowed South Africa to punish the Falcons.
“We had chances. Still, the conversion was another problem. And, uh, we made some little errors at the back. They capitalized on that,” the coach said.
He identified poor decision-making and defensive errors as major factors behind the defeat, while also admitting that Nigeria had struggled to be clinical in front of goal.
According to Madugu, the Falcons created several chances but were wasteful and could have put the match beyond South Africa’s reach before half-time.
He said the team also had opportunities after the interval but failed to take advantage of them, unlike South Africa, who converted the chances they created.
The defeat brings an end to Nigeria’s record of appearing at every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup since the tournament began in 1991.
South Africa, meanwhile, will progress to the intercontinental play-off tournament, where they will have another opportunity to secure a place at the 2027 Women’s World Cup.