Women’s World Cup: Africa’s powerhouse Nigeria bow out against England
The Super Falcons of Nigeria have been eliminated in the round of 16 of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The nine-time AWCON winners stretched the knockout fixture on Monday to extra time, pulling a 0-0 tie against a resilient ten-woman England. Chelsea FC Women forward Lauren James, was shown a red card in the 87th minute.
Post-match penalties ended 4-2 in favour of coach Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses.
Nigeria had reached the knockout stage for the third time in their ninth appearance, after finishing second in Group B with five points.
Only one African side, Morocco, is left in the tournament taking place in Australia and New Zealand.
With the exit of Nigeria and two-time participants South Africa who bowed to the Netherlands, Morocco will seek to keep Africa’s hopes alive when they face France on Tuesday, August 8.
So far, the Moroccans have produced the most surprises for Africa. In just their first appearance, they qualified for the knockout stages after recording Africa’s best performance in the Group stage of the ongoing tournament. The Atlas Lionesses finished second in Group H with six points.
Other surprises in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup include the exit of title holders USA, in a shock 5-4 defeat to Sweden on penalties. The match on Sunday had ended 0-0 after extra time.
