NFF sacks Super Falcons crew after Women’s Africa Cup of Nations exit

The Nigeria Football Federation has ordered Super Falcons head coach Justine Madugu and the rest of the national team’s technical crew to step down with immediate effect. The decision was issued by the NFF Executive Committee on Monday and announced in a brief statement on the federation’s official X account.

“The Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation has asked members of the technical crew of the @NGSuper_Falcons to step down with immediate effect,” the statement said. The federation did not name a replacement for Madugu or provide details about who will oversee the team’s next assignment.

The move follows Nigeria’s disappointing campaign at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. The Super Falcons lost 1-0 to Cameroon in the quarter-finals, ending their tournament in the last eight. It was the first time Nigeria had failed to reach at least the semi-finals of the competition.

The defeat also carried a wider consequence for the nine-time African champions. Nigeria had previously relied on the WAFCON route to secure an automatic place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The quarter-final loss meant that route was no longer available, leaving the team to pursue qualification through the African playoffs and then the inter-confederation playoffs.

That recovery attempt ended against South Africa. The Super Falcons lost 2-1 to Banyana Banyana in the African playoff, a result that ended Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil. The team will therefore miss the tournament after the setback that followed its early WAFCON elimination.

Nigeria’s performances at the continental tournament had already placed Madugu under growing pressure. The team were described as unconvincing during the competition before Cameroon secured the decisive result in the quarter-final. The subsequent defeat by South Africa turned a disappointing WAFCON campaign into a failure to qualify for the World Cup.

The NFF’s decision also comes as scrutiny of Nigeria’s national teams increases. The federation established a fact-finding committee last week to examine poor performances by national teams in recent years. That committee was inaugurated on Monday, the same day the NFF announced that the Super Falcons’ technical crew had been asked to leave.

The timing places the women’s national team at the centre of a broader review of Nigeria’s football structure. Madugu and his staff are no longer responsible for the team, while the NFF must now determine how the next coaching group will be selected and when it will be appointed. No succession plan has been announced.

For the Super Falcons, the immediate sporting cost is clear: the team has lost its WAFCON semi-final record for this edition and will not appear at the 2027 World Cup. The coaching change gives the federation an opportunity to reshape the team after two decisive defeats, but the NFF has yet to say whether an interim coach, a new permanent staff or another arrangement will lead that process.