AFCON 2025
No one would have thought that the Super Falcons of Nigeria, 10-time and defending champions of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, wouldn’t have sealed qualification into the next round after two group stage matches.
The Super Falcons started their title defence on a shocking note after a 3-2 loss to Malawi before bouncing back with a hard-fought victory over Zambia on Saturday night.
The result eases the pressure on the team a bit going into the crucial group game against Egypt.
Nigeria needs a win against the North African side and a favour from Malawi to safely book their spot in the next round.
However, things could get very intriguing in a scenario where Zambia secure a win over Malawi on the final matchday, leaving Nigeria, Zambia and Malawi all locked on six points apiece.
Should that scenario play out, CAF’s tie-break regulations state that the first port of call is not overall group form but a head-to-head mini-table built strictly from results between the three tied sides. Points earned against Egypt, already eliminated, would not factor in at this stage.
That mini-table would first compare points picked up by Nigeria, Zambia and Malawi purely against each other, before moving to goal difference and then goals scored in those same head-to-head fixtures alone.
Only if all three sides remained inseparable after that process would CAF then widen the criteria to overall group goal difference and total goals scored across all matches, at which point Zambia’s result against Egypt would finally come into consideration, with a draw of lots serving as the absolute last resort.
