By ABIODUN ADEWALE

After a shaky start to their title defence, 10-time champions Nigeria have their eyes on a ticket to the quarter-finals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, as they face Egypt in Wednesday’s (today’s) final Group C match in Rabat, The PUNCH reports.

Nigeria suffered a shocking 3-2 defeat against Malawi in their opening game but followed it up with a spirited 1-0 win over Zambia to keep their dreams alive.

A win today will see them move to six points, with their passage to the last eight dependent on the result of the other game between Malawi and Zambia.

Egypt lost 6-0 to Zambia on the opening day of the group and fell 3-1 to pacesetters Malawi, but the Falcons will not be underrating the girls from Misr.

Coach Justine Madugu must deal with the immediate challenge of finding replacements for defender Tosin Demehin and midfielder Jennifer Echegini, who are both ruled out of the contest following disciplinary issues.

Demehin was sent off against Zambia for holding back Barbra Banda, who was clear on goal, while Echegini accumulated two yellow cards in the team’s games against Malawi and Zambia.s

Madugu, who tweaked his starting line-up against Zambia on Saturday, has more tweaking to do, with Christy Ucheibe, who did well at centre-back following Demehin’s expulsion on Saturday, likely to start alongside Osinachi Ohale, with Toni Payne favoured to start alongside captain Rasheedat Ajibade and perhaps Halimatu Ayinde in the middle.

Ajibade’s penalty and Uchenna Kanu’s shot in added time reduced the tally against the Malawians, and Coach Madugu may again start Kanu alongside Oshoala, who scored the goal that earned all three points against the Zambians.

Malawi currently lead the group with six points, followed by Nigeria and Zambia on three each. If Zambia beat Malawi and Nigeria beat Egypt as well, all three teams will be on six points.

If the three teams eventually finish on six points, the Confederation of African Football will apply its competition regulations to determine the two teams that advance to the quarter-finals.

The permutations could make the head-to-head results among the tied teams, goal difference and other tiebreaking criteria decisive if the teams finish level on points, with the final standings determined by the applicable CAF regulations. (PUNCH)

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