Super Falcons of Nigeria came back from two goals down to beat hosts, Morocco 3-2, to claim their 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations’ trophy..
The home side got off to a two-goal lead in the first half of the final played at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat, Morocco on Saturday night.
Captain Ghizlane Chebbak opened the scoring for the Atlas Lionesses with a brilliant strike from outside the box, curling the ball low past Nigerian goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie.
In the 24th minute, Sanaâ Mssoudy doubled Morocco’s lead.
The comeback by Ziper Falcons began just after the hour mark when a VAR review handed Justine Maduagu’s side a lifeline.
A handball by Nouhaila Benzina resulted in a penalty, which was coolly dispatched by Esther Okoronkwo to make it 2-1.
In the 71st minute, Okoronkwo slipped a neat ball into the path of Ijamilusi, who drilled a left-footed effort into the bottom corner to bring the Super Falcons level.
Nigeria then took the lead for the first time in the encounter in the 89th minute, when Okoronkwo once again delivered a well-worked set-piece to Joe Echegini, who calmly slotted home to seal a dramatic turnaround.
Despite late pressure and a flurry of Moroccan attacks, the Super Falcons held firm through a tense final few minutes of stoppage time to win the game.
The victory earned Nigeria a $1 million prize, and a successful ending to a Mission X campaign.
In the tournament, the Super Falcons decimated all three teams that had beaten them in the 2022 finals also staged in Morocco.
They defeated Zambia 5-0 in the quarter finals to avenge a third-place defeat by the Copper Queens in 2022.
In the semi finals, they edged South Africa’s Banyana Banyana who had beaten them 2-1 in the group stage in 2022.
In the final, they defeated the Atlas Lionesses that had beaten them on penalty shootout in the semi finals in 2022.
They also kept to their record of never losing a Women AFCON Final.
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