They won the first seven
African championships, and through their first 20 years lost only five games to African competition: 12 December 2002 to Ghana in
Warri, 3 June 2007 at
Algeria, 12 August 2007 to
Ghana in an Olympic qualifier, 25 November 2008 at
Equatorial Guinea in the semis of the
2008 Women's African Football Championship and May 2011 at Ghana in an
All Africa Games qualification match. The Super Falcons have been able to dominate beyond Africa in such arenas as the
FIFA Women's World Cup or the Olympic Games however. The team has been to every World Cup since 1991, but managed just once to finish in the top two. In
2003, the Super Falcons turned out to be the biggest disappointment of the first round, failing to score a single goal and losing all three Group A matches. They did little better in
2007, drawing only one of their Group B matches. However, they faced the
group of death in both 2003 and 2007, grouped both times with rising
Asian power
North Korea, traditional
European power
Sweden, and a historic women's superpower in the
USA. Nigeria hosted the African women's championship finals for the third time in 2001 which were then canceled due to a severe outbreak of gang induced violence within the Nigerian area, replacing
Gabon, which was initially granted the right to host but later pulled out citing financial difficulties, and won it for the seventh time in a row. Nigeria's Super Falcons and
Ghana's Black Queens represented Africa in China for the
2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. played numerous games for the Nigeria women's national football team
The "Falconets" are the country's junior team (U-20), which performed creditably in the
2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship held in
Russia when they beat
Finland 8–0 before they were sent packing by Brazil in the Quarter-finals. They were the runner-up to Germany at the
2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. Nigeria also played in the
2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup held in
Canada and lost to Germany in the finals 0–1,
Asisat Oshoala got both the golden ball and golden boot.
The "Flamingoes" are the country's cadet team (U-17), which qualified for the inaugural women's U-17 World Cup
New Zealand 2008. Nigeria qualified for the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup where they were placed in Group A with South Korea, Norway and hosts France.
Labour disputes The Super Falcons have consistently clashed with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over back pay, unpaid bonuses, daily allowances, and poor facilities. These disputes have resulted in sit‑in protests, training boycotts, or threats to boycott several key tournaments: •
2004 – Following their WAFCON victory in Johannesburg, players staged a three-day sit-in at their hotel over unpaid bonuses. President Olusegun Obasanjo intervened and paid ₦1 million to each player. •
2007 – At the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the team boycotted training over unpaid back pay after their group match against Sweden. The dispute was resolved ahead of their final group match against the United States. •
2016 – After winning AWCON, players refused to leave their hotel for 13 days and marched to the National Assembly demanding unpaid bonuses (~US$23,650 per player). •
2019 – After their World Cup exit in France, players staged a sit-in protest in their hotel over unpaid bonuses and allowances. •
2022 – During WAFCON in Morocco, the Falcons boycotted training ahead of the third-place playoff due to unpaid match bonuses. •
2023 – Ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the NFF canceled players’ match bonuses and delayed grant disbursements. FIFPRO announced support for the players. Head coach Randy Waldrum accused the NFF of withholding salaries and mismanaging funds, which led to internal backlash. ==Team image==