The Super Falcons return to the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne on Tuesday holding a 2-0 lead over Comoros in the second round of African qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Protect that advantage and Augustine Eguavoen's side will set up a third-round tie with Morocco.
Both legs are being played in Ikenne. Comoros were the designated home side on Friday, but the island nation has no CAF-approved stadium.
How Friday was won
It took longer than the scoreline suggests. Toni Payne curled wide after 11 minutes. Rasheedat Ajibade then struck the crossbar midway through the first half, and Glory Ogbona could not turn in the rebound. It was 0-0 at the break.
Then it came. Three minutes after the restart, Gift Monday headed a cross into the danger area and Michelle Alozie tapped in. Uchenna Kanu added the second around the hour mark, rising to meet a corner from Jennifer Echegini.
Eguavoen, in his first match since the NFF named him interim coach in September, also used a night he knew Nigeria were expected to win comfortably to run his eye over a handful of new faces. Joy Igbokwe started in midfield on her senior debut. Janet Akekoromowei and Suliat Abideen came off the bench for their first caps.
“I was nervous at the start because we desperately wanted to win the game,” Eguavoen said afterwards.
A back line without Ohale
The bigger story is who was missing. Osinachi Ohale announced her retirement from international football in late September, ending a 16-year Nigeria career that brought 86 caps, four World Cups and five continental titles. That is a big hole to fill.
“I tried to convince her to stay, but her mind was made up and we must respect that,” Eguavoen said of the defender. Oluwatosin Demehin is out because of residency permit issues at Benfica. Ashleigh Plumptre withdrew with a ligament injury. Asisat Oshoala, who the coach said had “a slight hamstring injury”, did not feature either.
So the coach is improvising.
Ucheibe dropped into the defensive role on Friday. It held. And Eguavoen has made adaptability the price of a shirt. “My philosophy is simple: to earn a place in this team, a player must be adaptable across multiple roles,” he said.
What Tuesday means for Nigeria
Comoros will not come simply to defend. Far from it. They beat Sudan 30-0 on aggregate in the first round. Their captain, Assimina Maoulida, was defiant after Friday's defeat, and coach Youssouf Abdallah said the aim was “not only to stay longer at 0-0, but also to score a goal.”
Goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie expects exactly that. “They will come back with everything to make sure they get a result,” she said.
The stakes stretch well beyond this week. Africa has only two places in the women's tournament at Los Angeles 2028, and the road runs through five knockout rounds. The third is scheduled between 23 February and 6 March 2027. Morocco are already there. Congo-Brazzaville withdrew from their second-round tie, which sent the Atlas Lionesses through without kicking a ball. The last meeting between the two sides was the WAFCON final in Rabat on 26 July 2025, when Nigeria trailed 2-0 at half-time and then scored three times after the break to win 3-2, claim a tenth continental crown and take the trophy away from a home crowd that had come to see the hosts crowned. Nobody in Rabat has forgotten it. Nor has anyone in the Glass House. Nigeria have since missed out on the 2027 World Cup, and Eguavoen has not hidden from it.
“What happened at WAFCON wasn't an outright disaster; when you dominate a continent for decades, a dip can happen,” he said. “Missing out on the World Cup was the true heartbreak.”
Nnadozie put it more bluntly: “We are not done yet.”
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