Super Falcons head coach Justin Madugu says preparations must start immediately for Nigeria’s WAFCON 2026 qualifying campaign, a month after leading the team to continental glory in Morocco.
The 61-year-old guided Nigeria to their record-extending 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title last month, fulfilling what was dubbed Mission X and even earning himself a Ballon d’Or nomination in the process.
Madugu insists there is no time to dwell on the triumph, with Nigeria set to face Benin Republic in a two-legged qualifier this October.
“We have achieved what we have achieved. It has brought so much attention on the team, which has also made our job even more difficult,” Madugu told Brila FM.
“The qualifiers for the next edition, we have a game already in October, which we have to start planning for, and we equally must try as much as possible to spread, check more players.”
Ajibade celebrating the WAFCON title with her teammate Tosin Demehin. Photo Credit: CAF
Nigeria are scheduled to play Benin on 20 October, with the return leg eight days later on home soil.
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Madugu said the focus will be on expanding the pool of players available, noting that limited time before WAFCON 2024 meant he could not test as many new faces as he had hoped.
“If we had had more camps before we travelled, we had wanted to look at quite a number of other players, but because we didn’t have that time, it was too short. It was risky for us to begin to look at players that you don’t know much about,” he explained.
Justine Madugu with the 2024 WAFCON title. Photo Credit: X
The coach confirmed that training camps will be organised in the coming weeks to evaluate fresh talent and increase competition for places.
“We hope between now and October to have like one or two camps and see how we can also give new players the opportunity to showcase what they can do. We already have a programme, a template of what we hope to do between now and the next qualifying game.”
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Despite guiding Nigeria to a record-extending 10th WAFCON title, Justin Madugu is yet to be offered a substantive contract by the Nigeria Football Federation.
