Goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie says Nigeria must “go back to the drawing board” after failing to secure automatic qualification for the 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
The Super Falcons missed out on the semi-finals of the ongoing 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) in Morocco, losing 1-0 to Cameroon in Sunday’s quarter-final.
Cameroon’s progression to the last four confirms their place at next year’s World Cup in Brazil, alongside fellow semi-finalists Algeria, Malawi and Morocco.
As a result, Nigeria — last year’s Wafcon champions — will meet South Africa in a play-off on Thursday (20:00 GMT) for a berth at an inter-confederation qualifier later this year, keeping their World Cup hopes alive.
“This is football, this is life,” Nnadozie told the BBC World Service.
“What happened happened, we just have to keep our heads high. There’s still hope – it’s not over yet.”
Nigeria have featured at all nine previous editions of the Women’s World Cup, starting with the inaugural tournament in China in 1991.
The Super Falcons reached the quarter-finals in 1999 and advanced to the last 16 at each of the past two tournaments.
Now, after relinquishing their Wafcon title, Justin Madugu’s side must overcome 2022 champions South Africa to stay in contention for a place at the expanded 32-team World Cup.
“The coach has been cheering us up, and we really appreciate that from him,” Nnadozie said.
“On Thursday we’ll go out strong, we’ll try to do better than we’ve done [against Cameroon] and hope to get to the next stage of the World Cup.
“We will go there and make things right.”
Elsewhere on Thursday, Ghana face Ivory Coast for Africa’s second berth at the inter-continental qualifier.
The two Wafcon play-off winners will move into a 10-nation global competition, with a preliminary phase scheduled for November and December.
A final round in February will determine the last three qualifiers for the 2027 World Cup, which kicks off on 24 June.