In a summer full of women’s soccer, the Africa Cup of Nations has intrigue

Nigeria’s Mission X has an ominous sounding name but a simple meaning. The Super Falcons aim to win a 10th overall Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title.

The WAFCON tournament comes during a busy summer of major women’s soccer tournaments across the globe, headlined by the European Championship and the Copa América Femenina in South America.

Just as Spain seeks to follow its Women’s World Cup title with a Euro trophy in Switzerland, and Brazil goes for a ninth Copa América title in Ecuador, the Super Falcons are among the favorites in Morocco.

They even have a flashy slogan: “This is Mission X. One Team. One Goal. One More Star.”

But while Nigeria emerged atop its group, its results weren’t all that impressive, capped by a scoreless draw against second-place Algeria after a slim 1-0 victory over Botswana.

It gets considerably more challenging in the WAFCON quarterfinals on Friday, when the Super Falcons face Zambia.

With their nine African titles, the Super Falcons are the continent’s most successful women’s team. Nigeria has appeared in the Women’s World Cup nine times and reached the quarterfinals in 1999 when the field was 16 teams.

Like around the rest of the world, women’s soccer is growing in Africa. At the expanded 2023 Women’s World Cup, there were four African teams. In addition to Nigeria, Zambia and Morocco made their debuts and South Africa appeared for the second time. Nigeria, South Africa and upstart Morocco all advanced to the round of 16.

Part of Nigeria’s Mission X is a better finish than at the last WAFCON tournament in 2022, which was won by South Africa. The Super Falcons finished fourth.

“We know why we here and the goal is to achieve our target, which is to make the Mission X possible. I mean, no team is a pushover here. Every team is a good team and every team wants to beat Nigeria. So we will try as much as possible to to to bring this trophy home,” goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie said during a news conference in Morocco. “It’s not going to be easy. Trust me, it’s not going to be easy. You guys you all saw what happened in 2022. But we’ve learned our lessons and we are here to do the right thing and to make sure we take the trophy back to Nigerians.”

Nnadozie was recently signed by Brighton in the English Women’s Super League. She is one of the standout players on the squad, which includes six-time African women’s player of the year Asisat Oshoala, who plays in the United States for Bay FC, and captain Rasheedat Ajibade, who plays for Atlético Madrid.

Zambia, too, has several of a growing number of African players who have caught the attention of foreign teams, including Racheal Kundananji, Oshoala’s teammate at Bay FC, and Barbra Banda, who plays for the Orlando Pride.

Another indication of the growth of the sport in Africa is the WAFCON prize money. The winner will pocket a tournament-high $1 million, while the total prize pool is $3.475 million.

“The quality and standard of women’s football in Africa is consistently improving and is world class,” the African confederation president, Patrice Motsepe, said before the start of the tournament.

Despite the growth of the game, there are still challenges. The biennial tournament was delayed a year because Nigeria and Zambia made the field for the Paris Olympics as well as other logistical issues. The crowds at the WAFCON games have been sparse.

Nigeria’s Nike training jerseys got stuck in customs in Morocco, so the Super Falcons had to wear old kits at practice. And there have been reports that Nigeria’s players were not paid their bonuses for qualifying for the tournament.

Pay disputes are nothing new to the team. Nigeria staged hotel sit-ins at both the 2019 Women’s World Cup and the 2022 WAFCON to protest a lack of payments the players said they were owed by the federation.

Coach Justin Madugu says his focus is on Mission X.

“It’s a Herculean task, having to shoulder the responsibility of managing a team as great as the Super Falcons, one of the best in Africa, even globally,” he said at a tournament news conference. “Looking at the performances over the years, they have high standards, and so it is not easy for one to be given such a responsibility, but we’re doing our best to sustain and even do better than what the team has done in the past, which is our ultimate goal.”