Since FIFA rankings were established in 2003, the team has been ranked No. 1 in Africa and have never relinquished that position. Their 23rd position in the FIFA world ranking achieved on three occasions remains the highest they have ever attained.
History
Nigeria women's national football team after a concluded training session
The Super Falcons have been able to dominate beyond Africa in such arenas as the FIFA Women's World Cup or the Olympic Games however. The team has been to every World Cup since 1991, but managed just once to finish in the top two. In 2003, the Super Falcons turned out to be the biggest disappointment of the first round, failing to score a single goal and losing all three Group A matches. They did little better in 2007, drawing only one of their Group B matches. However, they faced the group of death in both 2003 and 2007, grouped both times with rising Asian power North Korea, traditional European power Sweden, and a historic women's superpower in the USA.
Nigeria hosted the African women's championship finals for the third time in 2001 which were then canceled due to a severe outbreak of gang induced violence within the Nigerian area, replacing Gabon, which was initially granted the right to host but later pulled out citing financial difficulties, and won it for the seventh time in a row. Nigeria's Super Falcons and Ghana's Black Queens represented Africa in China for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The "Flamingoes" are the country's cadet team (U-17), which qualified for the inaugural women's U-17 World Cup New Zealand 2008. Nigeria qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup where they were placed in Group A with South Korea, Norway and hosts France.
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
Nigeria again maintained their record of appearing in all Women's Women Cup finals after qualifying for their ninth world cup.
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup was widely regarded as one of the best tournaments in the history of the Nigerian women's national team.
Nigeria opened with a 0–0 draw against the reigning Olympic champions Canada with Goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie outstanding performance making the difference. They went on to defeat co-hosts Australia 3–2 in what was arguably the biggest upset involving Nigeria at the tournament.
Nigeria's last group game finished another 0–0 draw with Republic of Ireland, the draw secured second place and qualification for the Round of 16. Nigeria finished the group unbeaten and conceded only twice in three matches.
In the round of 16 Nigeria faced England with the match ending 0–0 at extended regulation time. Ultimately losing 4–2 on penalties after Desire Oparanozie and Michelle Alozie both missed their spot kicks.
The Super Falcons did not reach the quarterfinals, but their 2023 campaign demonstrated that they could compete tactically, physically, and mentally with the world's elite teams. For many Nigerian fans, it was the team's most complete World Cup performance since the historic quarterfinal run at the 1999 tournament.
2025: Tenth WAFCON Title
In 2025, after playing through the tournament unbeaten Nigeria reached another WAFCON final for a record tenth time. Nigeria as the favorites to win the title and was placed in a relatively easy Group B along with Tunisia, Algeria and Botswana. Their game against Tunisia started with a comfortable 3–0 win, then sealed their quarter-finals spot with a 1–0 win over Botswana. They drew 0–0 with Algeria in their final group game to top their group, with most starters rested in the match.
Nigeria in the quarterfinals eliminated Zambia with a dominating 5–0 victory revenging the 1–0 loss in the previous edition's third place play-off. Nigeria advanced to the semis against then defending champions South Africa, where they won 2-1 and conceded their first goal of the tournament.
With the triumph, Nigeria became the first women's national team (across all continents) to reach 10 continental titles. Nigeria still extended their perfect winning streak in WAFCON finals.
2026: WAFCON defeat
In 2026 WAFCON, Nigeria lost to Malawi with a score of 2-3. Although they win against Zambia and Egypt with the score of 1-0 and 6-2 in the next two group matches, they suffer a defeat against Cameroon with the score of 0-1 in quarters-final. This mark that Nigeria will not compete in Semi-Final of the tournament for the first time in history. Subsequently, 4 days later, Nigeria lost a decisive play-in match to South Africa 2-1 and failed to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time in history. South Africa advanced to the inter-confederation playoffs leading up to the 2027 edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
The Nigeria women's national football team has been known or nicknamed as the "Super Falcons".
Home stadium
The Nigerian women's national football team has no national stadium. The women's team play their home matches in different stadiums throughout the country. Most home games have been held in Moshood Abiola National Stadium (formerly known as National Stadium, Abuja) which serves as the official home stadium of the Men's team. Other venues which has hosted some of their matches are the MKO Abiola Stadium, Onikan Stadium and Remo Stars Stadium.
The Super Falcons have consistently clashed with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over back pay, unpaid bonuses, daily allowances, and poor facilities. These disputes have resulted in sit‑in protests, training boycotts, or threats to boycott several key tournaments:
2004 – Following their WAFCON victory in Johannesburg, players staged a three-day sit-in at their hotel over unpaid bonuses. President Olusegun Obasanjo intervened and paid ₦1 million to each player.
2007 – At the FIFA Women's World Cup, the team boycotted training over unpaid back pay after their group match against Sweden. The dispute was resolved ahead of their final group match against the United States.
2016 – After winning AWCON, players refused to leave their hotel for 13 days and marched to the National Assembly demanding unpaid bonuses (~US$23,650 per player).
2019 – After their World Cup exit in France, players staged a sit-in protest in their hotel over unpaid bonuses and allowances.
2022 – During WAFCON in Morocco, the Falcons boycotted training ahead of the third-place playoff due to unpaid match bonuses.
2023 – Ahead of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the NFF canceled players’ match bonuses and delayed grant disbursements. FIFPRO announced support for the players. Head coach Randy Waldrum accused the NFF of withholding salaries and mismanaging funds, which led to internal backlash.
↑Hausa: Kungiyar kwallon kafa ta mata ta Najeriya, Igbo: Ndị otu egwuregwu bọọlụ ụmụ nwanyị nke mba Naịjirịa
↑CAF does not award an official title to the winner in 1991 and 1995. The first champion is registered from the 1998 edition onwards. However, it considers the 1991 and 1995 as official tournaments, counting the number of participations from 1991 onwards.
(16 June 2026)
Nigeria 5–1 Ghana 
Norway 8–0 Nigeria 
Germany 8–0 Nigeria 
France 8–0 Nigeria 
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