Nigeria’s Super Falcons have advanced to the next round of the 2028 Olympic Games women’s football qualifiers after defeating Comoros 5-0 in the second leg in Ikenne, Ogun State, on Tuesday.
The victory gave Nigeria a 7-0 aggregate win after securing a 2-0 victory in the first leg.
The Super Falcons will now face Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses in the next round of the qualifying campaign.
Nigeria started the match strongly, with Gift Monday coming close to scoring in the ninth minute. However, her attempt to beat the Comoros goalkeeper failed.
The team suffered a setback in the 28th minute when captain Rasheedat Ajibade was forced off following a heavy collision. Folashade Ijamilusi came on as her replacement.
Nigeria eventually took the lead in the 41st minute through Toni Payne, who scored from close range after Uchenna Kanu intercepted a mistake by the Comoros goalkeeper and provided the assist.
Interim coach Augustine Eguavoen introduced Blessing Okpe at the start of the second half, and the change helped Nigeria increase their attacking pressure.
Kanu doubled Nigeria’s lead on the night in the 58th minute with a header from Ijamilusi’s cross.
Payne scored her second goal of the match in the 63rd minute after Okpe beat two defenders and passed the ball into her path.
Three minutes later, Kanu scored again with another header from an Ijamilusi cross to make it 4-0.
The Super Falcons were awarded a penalty in the 71st minute after Okpe was brought down inside the box. Christy Ucheibe converted the spot-kick to complete the 5-0 victory.
Nigeria made further substitutions in the closing stages as they comfortably saw out the match.
The 7-0 aggregate victory keeps the Super Falcons on course in their bid to qualify for the women’s football tournament at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
