Super Falcons coach, Justine Madugu,, has apologised to Nigerians following the team’s failure to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, admitting that errors and poor finishing contributed to their 2-1 defeat to South Africa.

Madugu spoke in a post-match interview in a video posted by News Central TV on Friday, after the Falcons lost in the Confederation of African Football play-off at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco on Thursday.

“I have to apologise to Nigerians over our inability to make it to the World Cup. We are very sorry. It was not our intention.

“We came, did the best that we could, but our best was not good enough.

“And we’re very sorry for that, and we take full responsibility for everything that happened. There can always be a next time. I’m sorry,” Madugu said.

The Falcons had missed out on an automatic World Cup ticket after losing 1-0 to Cameroon in the WAFCON quarter-finals, but were handed another opportunity through the continental play-off.

However, South Africa took advantage of Nigeria’s defensive errors, with Thembi Kgatlana opening the scoring in the 56th minute before Refiloe Jane doubled the lead in the 77th minute.

Christy Ucheibe pulled one back from the penalty spot in added time after a VAR review resulted in a penalty for Nigeria and a red card for Jane, but the Falcons could not find an equaliser.

Madugu said the team created enough chances but failed to convert them.

“We had chances. Still, the conversion was another problem. And, uh, we made some little errors at the back. They capitalized on that, and, uh, they got the goals that they also got,” he said.

The coach attributed the defensive lapses to individual errors and poor decision-making.

“It is something that we really regret and feel very sorry about because it was more of individual errors in terms of decision-making that accounted for what actually happened.

“Of course, we will say we have a goal-scoring problem because we have not been clinical in front of goal. We have not been clinical. We create several chances, but we are very wasteful with the opportunities that always come our way.

“If we were very clinical in front of goal—I mean, we would have been scoring a lot of goals,” he said.

File: Super Falcons head coach Justin Madugu

He said Nigeria had enough opportunities to settle the match in the first half but failed to take them.

“So, we have to blame ourselves for it. We have to blame ourselves because we did not take the chances that keep coming our way. This was a game we would have finished since first half based on the opportunities that we had, but we couldn’t utilize them,” Madugu said.

“In the second half, we still got chances. How many chances did South Africa get? But because they were more clinical, they converted the chances that came their way. Today, they are the ones that won the match.”

The defeat means Nigeria will miss the Women’s World Cup for the first time since the tournament began in 1991.

South Africa will advance to the intercontinental play-off tournament for another opportunity to qualify for the 2027 tournament. (Punch)

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