Nigeria secured a place in the quarter-finals of the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations with a convincing 6-2 victory over Egypt in their final Group C match at the Rabat Olympic Stadium on Wednesday.
The Super Falcons, who entered the match under pressure following a surprise opening defeat to Malawi and a narrow victory over Zambia, produced their most dominant display of the tournament to book their place in the knockout stage.
Asisat Oshoala gave Nigeria the lead from the penalty spot in the 21st minute after the Super Falcons were awarded a spot kick. Gift Monday doubled the advantage in first-half stoppage time, finishing off a well-worked move created by Rinsola Babajide.
Egypt reduced the deficit moments before the interval when Nadine Ghazi converted a penalty deep into first-half added time, sending the teams into the break with Nigeria leading 2-1.
Nigeria regained complete control after the restart. Babajide provided her second assist of the evening in the 57th minute, setting up Uchenna Kanu to restore the Super Falcons’ two-goal cushion.
Christy Ucheibe added a fourth goal from the penalty spot in the 81st minute before Egypt briefly responded through Ghazi, who scored her second goal of the match three minutes later after being assisted by Yasmin Hassanin.
The Super Falcons sealed the emphatic victory with two late goals in stoppage time. Rasheedat Ajibade converted another penalty in the first minute of added time before turning provider for Joy Omewa, who completed the scoring in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
The victory ensured Nigeria finished the group stage with six points after recovering from their opening defeat with successive wins over Zambia and Egypt.
In the other Group C fixture, Malawi defeated Zambia 2-1 to finish top of the group on the tiebreak criteria after all three sides ended with six points. Nigeria progressed as runners-up, while Zambia were eliminated. Egypt finished bottom of the group after losing all three matches.
The result keeps Nigeria’s title defence alive and sends the nine-time African champions into the quarter-finals with renewed confidence after rediscovering their attacking form.
