- Nigeria’s Women’s World Cup journey ends with a penalty shootout loss against England in round of 16
- Despite being lowest-ranked in their group, Falcons advance ahead of Olympic champions Canada
Super Falcons Coach Randy Waldrum asserts that the 11-time African champions deserve recognition among the top nations in women’s football, citing their performance at the 2023 Women’s World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand.
Nigeria’s journey in the competition came to a close as they were edged out by England in a penalty shootout of 4-2 during the round of 16 on Monday. The match concluded in a goalless draw after regular time and extra time.
Remarkably, the Falcons entered the tournament as the lowest-ranked team within their group. They secured their spot in the competition, surpassing even the Olympic champions Canada, who currently hold the seventh position in the global rankings. The Falcons achieved victories against co-hosts Australia, ranked 10th, with a 3-2 score, and subsequently held No. 22 ranked Ireland to a goalless draw in their final group stage match. Notably, England, the team that ultimately eliminated Nigeria in the round of 16, boasts a fourth-place world ranking.
Despite their elimination from the tournament, Waldrum, who consistently commended his players’ resilience, expressed his admiration for the Falcons. The team, currently situated at the 40th spot in the world rankings, exceeded expectations and defied the odds in the competition.
“We can be and should be probably one of the top teams in the world by going from 40 on the FIFA rankings to a better number. I think we have also shown we are capable of playing against anybody. What you saw was England having a little more experience in playing these kinds of matches, being able to play with a man down and managing the game. Maybe that’s where we fell short,” Waldrum said after the game.
The American coach also saluted his England counterpart, Sarina Wiegman, noting that the Falcons only needed luck to advance to the quarter-final.
“Hats off to Sarina and her team, I don’t know what they thought we would do but we anticipated that they thought we would sit back like we did in the first two or three matches, and we really pressed them well, Halimatu (Ayinde) was fantastic against (Lauren) James. I don’t think we allowed them to get into the rhythm.
“The tactics was spot on, the performance was good, with a little bit of luck, we would have walked away with the result in our advantage,” he added.