Nigeria vs Canada: Super Falcons seeking to avoid record extending 20th World Cup defeat
Oshoala seeking to become first African to score at three different Women’s World Cup tournaments
The Super Falcons of Nigeria will kick off their 2023 Women’s World Cup campaign against Canada on Thursday seeking to avoid a record extending defeat in the
competition.
The Nigerians have qualified for every edition of the World Cup and have also amde the unwanted record of having lost more games in the competition than any other side (19).
Interestingly, Canada, their opponent on Thursday are following close behind them having lost the third most (14).
The North Americans are reigning Olympic champions, and will be far more hopeful of going deep in the tournament than the Nigerians who only reached the knockout stages twice in eight attempts so far.
The Super Falcons also hold the unwanted record of having the lowest goal difference in the history of the tournament (-43), winning just four of their 26 matches.
Nigeria have failed to score in 12 of their 16 matches at the Women’s World Cup and have won only two of those games with one of those wins against Canada (1-0) in 2011 while the other was at the most recent tournament – a 2-0 win over South Korea in 2019.
Canada have been planted as the favourites to win this match, with the Opta supercomputer giving them a 58.4% chance of winning in their eighth consecutive appearance at a FIFA Women’s World Cup but Nigeria do have plenty of quality in their squad, with lots of players who play their club football
in Europe or the USA.
Barcelona’s Asisat Oshoala will be their key player at the tournament, having scored 30 goals in 41 international appearances so far. With a goal at this
tournament, she would become the first African to score at three different Women’s World Cup tournaments.
Nigeria and Canada have met five times before, and two of those meetings have come in Women’s World Cups. Nigeria are unbeaten in those two World Cup
meetings, but they came rather a long time ago – a 3-3 draw in 1995 and the aforementioned 1-0 win for Nigeria in 2011.
Canada have beaten Nigeria twice in friendlies in recent years, before the sides played out a 2-2 draw in their most recent meeting in April 2022. That day,
Nigeria twice took the lead, but were pegged back both times. Canada only just managed to rescue a draw in 88th minute.
