Friday action in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will commence at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium when the Super Falcons of Nigeria take on Canada in the early hours of the day.
It is poised to be a keenly-contested game with very little separating both sides. Afrosport takes a look at the head-to-head record, form and star players of the two countries.
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⏱ 3:30 am #NGA time
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— NGSuper_Falcons (@NGSuper_Falcons) July 20, 2023
Head-to-head
Nigeria and Canada have faced each other five times previously with the North Americans having the slight edge with two wins. The Falcons have won once which was a 1-0 victory during the group phase of the 2011 World Cup in Germany.
Two draws have been recorded as well, the first being a high-scoring 3-3 draw at the 1995 World Cup in Sweden and the second being a 2-2 draw in their most recent meeting in a friendly last year.
Current form
The Falcons head into this game ranked 40th in the world with six games played this year, losing two against Mexico and Colombia before defeating Costa Rica, Haiti and World Cup co-hosts New Zealand. Their last game was an 8-1 bashing of local Australian club Queensland Lions FC of Brisbane.
The seventh-ranked Canadians are in poorer form than Nigeria with just one win in four matches. The bulk of the games came at the SheBelieves in April Cup where they lost to Japan and neighbours the United States while winning Brazil.
Their last game was a 2-1 defeat against France.
Road to Australia and New Zealand
Nigeria made it to their ninth consecutive World Cup by finishing fourth and the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations while Canada made it to their seventh World Cup by reaching the final of the 2022 CONCACAF Women’s Championship, losing 1-0 to the United States
World Cup record
The Super Falcons are one of seven teams alongside the United States, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Brazil and Japan to have played at every World Cup. Their best result was reaching the quarter-finals in the 1999 edition in the United States followed by the round of 16 at the 2019 tournament in France.
Nigeria have played a total of 26 games at the World Cup, winning just four, drawing three and losing 19 games. They have found the back of the net 20 times and conceded 63 goals.
Canada’s best result at the World Cup was fourth place at the 2003 edition in the United States. This is followed by a quarter-final and round of 16 finishes in 2015 and 2019. Overall, they have played 28 matches, winning eight, drawing five and losing 14 games. They have also scored a total of 34 goals and conceded 52 goals.
Star players
Nigeria: Asisat Oshoala
The 28-year-old is the most popular name in the Falcons squad and the most-awarded player as Africa’s best of any gender with a record five awards to her name.
Oshoala has had a successful career that has seen her feature for clubs such as Liverpool, Arsenal, Dalian Quanjian and currently Barcelona.
This will be her third World Cup outing and the weight of the country’s performance will be on her shoulders.
Canada: Christine Sinclair
Sinclair along with Nigeria’s Onome Ebi are the oldest players that will feature at this World Cup, both players aged 40.
Sinclair stands a class apart in international football as she has scored 190 goals scored, the most of any gender in the game.
She might be well past her prime and expected to announce her retirement after the tournament but she will still remain Canada’s go-to-player for a good outing in Australia and New Zealand.
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