Nigeria women's national team learned their 2023 Fifa World Cup fate on Saturday when the draw for the finals was conducted in Auckland/Tamaki Makaura.
The FIFA global women football fiesta would, in this edition, witness 32 teams all grouped into eight groups competing for honours, with the West Africans one of the only seven countries to appear in all nine editions.
Nigeria, who have qualified to nine consecutive World Cups, find themselves in Group B alongside tournament co-hosts Australia, debutants Republic of Ireland, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics gold medallists Canada in the tournament scheduled to take place from 20 July to 20 August.
The nine-time African champions will kick off their tournament against Canada, who have a rich history of success in women’s football having won their continental title, the CONCACAF Women's Championship twice, and two bronze medal finishes at the Olympics.
The Falcons’ second match will be against co-hosts, the Matildas, who have been to seven previous World Cups where they reached quarterfinals on three occasions in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Australia have also been to four Olympic football tournaments, finishing fourth to miss out on bronze in the 2020 Games.
The Super Falcons’ final Group B match will be against newbies Republic of Ireland, who are coached by former Banyana Banyana coach Vera Pauw, who has been credited for laying the foundation and structure for Africa champions’ success.
Other African teams in the competition are South Africa in group G, Zambia in Group C, Morocco in Group H while Senegal and Cameroon still have chances against heavyweights in Group D or E if they win their playoff games.
NIGERIA FIXTURES
21 July 2023
Nigeria v Canada
27 July 2023
Australia v Nigeria
31 July 2023
Republic of Ireland v Nigeria
