England vs Nigeria: Lionesses vs Super Falcons – who will win the battle?
England and Nigeria will be set to match wits on Monday as both the Lionesses and the Super Falcons hope to book a place in the quarter-finals. Four teams: Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, and Japan have already secured their spots after beating the USWNT, Switzerland, South Africa, and Norway respectively over the weekend.
England, who won their first major international title last year during the rescheduled 2022 Women’s EURO competition, have been steadily improving at this World Cup. Although the Lionesses have been hit hard by injuries, both before and during this tournament, they nonetheless topped their group with three wins out of three. England were given a real battle against debutant side Haiti, and were lucky to have the chance to retake a penalty in order to win that game by the slimmest of margins.
Against Denmark, the Lionesses struggled to make inroads, but managed to finally overcome their opponents to grind out another gritty 1-0 victory. They were clearly saving the best for last, as Wiegman opted to change formation and it paid dividends as they routed a hapless China side 6-1, with Lauren James making history due to her contributions during that match. Had England been even more clinical, James certainly would have grabbed a hat-trick and the score-line would have been a lot more embarrassing for China.
England’s upcoming opponents Nigeria come into this match unbeaten in their last five games. The Super Falcons started their World Cup campaign with a draw against Canada, before coming from behind to earn a deserved 3-2 win over Australia on matchday two. Although they were unable to find a breakthrough against an already eliminated Ireland, it was still enough for Randy Waldrum’s team to progress to the round of 16 and could potentially win a knockout round game for the first time in over 20 years, with their last quarter-finals appearance taking place in 1999.
Nigeria are one of three teams representing Africa in the round of 16 – something that has never happened before before this year’s competition. South Africa, who qualified despite being in a tricky group alongside Sweden, Italy, and Argentina, unfortunately saw their journey end on Saturday when they were beaten 2-0 by the Netherlands, but given the vast contrast in experience between the two sides, Banyana Banyana still can be quite proud of their efforts. Morocco, one of eight debutant sides at this year’s competition and the only to make it to the round of 16, will face a stern test against France on Tuesday, but there is still the possibility for at least one African side to be featuring in the quarter-finals – and perhaps beyond.
For England, fresh off their EURO 2022 triumph. the Lionesses will definitely be fancying their chances in this upcoming game. They won’t be taking Nigeria lightly, as the African giants have shown they do have the players to cause problems for their opponents, but their 6-1 demolition of China on matchday three will definitely have them confident that they can overpower the Super Falcons and join Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, and Japan in the quarter-finals.
As for Nigeria, they, too will be confident in their chances. Despite ending the group stage with a frustrating draw, they will approach this match with high hopes of securing a final eight spot and continue making history at a competition that will have fans talking for quite a long time.
