Nigeria’s Super Falcons, on Thursday, finally qualified for the Round of 16 of the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, after a long wait.
The Falcons qualified after Chile failed to beat Thailand as needed to qualify, only winning 2-0 in their final Group F match at the Roazhon Park in Rennes on Thursday.
Chile had needed to win 3-0, or Thailand had needed to beat Chile 15-0, to upstage Nigeria who had been waiting since playing their final Group A match on Monday.
But they failed to take advantage of a penalty kick late in the game which could have given them the needed goal.
The Super Falcons had since Monday waited with bated breath as the four tickets were being clinched one by one, first by China, then by Brazil and later by Cameroon.
Now that they have qualified, they will meet Germany on Saturday at Grenoble in the first match of the Round of 16 stage.
The Falcons have only advanced beyond the group stage once in their earlier seven appearances at the World Cup, and they lost to the Germans 1-0 in the 2011 edition of the competition.
How They Finished
Group Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts Pos
A Nigeria 3 1 0 2 2 4 -2 3 3rd
B China 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4 3rd
C Brazil 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6 3rd
D Argentina 3 0 2 1 3 4 -1 2 3rd
E Cameroon 3 1 0 2 3 5 -2 3 3rd
F Chile 3 1 0 2 2 5 -3 3 3rd
How They Qualified
Team. W D L GF GA GD Pts Opponents
Brazil 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6 France
China 1 1 1 1 1 0 4 Italy
Cameroon 1 0 2 3 5 -2 3 England
Nigeria 1 0 2 2 4 -2 3 Germany
Earlier, Cameroon qualified for the last 16 stage of the tournament when Ajara Nchout earned them a 2-1 win over New Zealand.
Nchout did it with the last kick of their Group E match at Montpellier in France.
Nchout, whose opener was cancelled out by Aurelle Awona’s own goal 10 minutes from time, found the back of the net five minutes into stoppage time.
The win gave the African side their first three points at the competition.
Cameroon go through as one of the four best third-placed teams while New Zealand were eliminated after three defeats.
The result means Argentina are also knocked out of the tournament.
The Netherlands topped the group with a maximum nine points after beating Canada, who ended with six points, 2-1 on Thursday.
Nchout opened the scoring 12 minutes into the second half, netting with a left foot shot after dribbling past Abby Erceg.
All their efforts appeared to have counted for nothing when Awona deflected Katie Bowen’s cross into her own net, the scoreline then meaning both teams were eliminated.
New Zealand pushed hard as Cameroon looked increasingly shaky.
But Nchout kept her cool deep into stoppage time, beating Erin Nayler with a right foot effort from inside the area.
