Ben Iroha demands fixes after Falcons’ 2-1 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup loss

Nigeria’s Super Falcons lost 2-1 to South Africa in Casablanca, ending their hopes of reaching the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil. The setback came after the Super Eagles missed the 2026 men’s World Cup, losing to DR Congo on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the African play-off final.

Former Super Eagles defender Ben Iroha said the latest failures should prompt a serious examination of Nigerian football. He argued that the problems cannot be treated as isolated results and called on those responsible for the game to identify the decisions and structures that have contributed to the decline.

Iroha, an 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner and former Golden Eaglets assistant coach, pointed to setbacks across Nigeria’s senior and youth teams. The Super Falcons had also failed to defeat Cameroon in their quarter-final before losing the decisive World Cup play-off to South Africa.

The men’s qualification campaign ended after Nigeria had entered the African play-offs by missing automatic qualification. The Super Eagles beat Gabon before their defeat by DR Congo. At youth level, the Flying Eagles lost 4-1 to Burkina Faso in the final of the WAFU Zone B U-20 Championship, a result that also ended their chances of reaching the 2027 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations and the subsequent U-20 World Cup.

Iroha said Nigeria must first acknowledge that its football system is not working as it should. He wants an honest review of what has been missed, what has been poorly handled and what should have been done differently, rather than another response focused only on the latest defeat.

The Nigeria Football Federation has established a fact-finding committee to investigate the country’s poor results in international competitions, with particular attention on the Falcons’ failure to qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. Iroha’s intervention comes as the men’s and women’s senior teams, along with the U-20 side, have all suffered major qualification setbacks.