MATCH STATS: Nigeria face Zambia in TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON Morocco 2026 Group C

Nigeria and Zambia meet in their second TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Group C match at the Al Madina Stadium in Rabat on Saturday, 1 August, with kick-off at 21h00 local time (20h00 GMT). 

Match Facts

• The teams experienced contrasting fortunes on matchday one, with Nigeria losing 3-2 to debutants Malawi and Zambia recording a 6-0 victory over Egypt. 

• Nigeria and Zambia will meet for the fifth time at the WAFCON. This will be their third group-stage encounter.

• They are meeting at a third successive edition of the finals.

• Nigeria have won three of their previous four meetings, with Zambia claiming one victory.

• The teams previously met in 2014, 2018, 2022 and at the last edition. Nigeria won the first two encounters, both group games, by scores of 6-0 and 4-0 respectively.

• Zambia defeated Nigeria 1-0 in the third-place play-off in 2022.

• Their most recent meeting saw Nigeria win 5-0 in the quarter-finals at the last edition. Nigeria led 3-0 at half-time through goals from Osinachi Ohale in the second minute, Esther Okoronkwo in the 33rd and Chinwendu Ihezuo in the 45th.

• Oluwatosin Demehin added Nigeria’s fourth goal in the 68th minute before Folashade Ijamilusi completed the scoring in second-half stoppage time. 

• Nigeria have outscored Zambia 15-1 across their previous four encounters.

• No Zambian player has scored in a WAFCON match against Nigeria. Zambia’s only goal, in the 2022 third-place play-off, was an own goal by Nigeria goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie after Evarine Katongo’s initial 29th-minute effort struck the upright.

• Only the winning team has scored in each of their previous four meetings. There has yet to be a WAFCON encounter between the teams in which both have scored.

Nigeria – Key Statistics

• Nigeria lost their opening WAFCON match for the third time in four editions when they went down 3-2 to Malawi on matchday one.

• They also lost their opening games in 2018 and 2022 before beginning the last edition with a victory.

• Nigeria were facing tournament debutants for the 18th time when they met Malawi, with the defeat their first against a newcomer.

• They conceded three goals in a WAFCON match for the first time.

• Should Nigeria fail to win, it will be only the second time they have begun a WAFCON campaign without victory in either of their opening two games. In 2008, they started with successive draws against Ghana and Tunisia.

• Their opening defeats to South Africa in 2018 and 2022 were followed by victories against Zambia and Botswana respectively.

• Defeat would see Nigeria lose successive WAFCON group games for the first time.

• A loss would also see Nigeria suffer successive WAFCON defeats in open play for only the second time. In 2012, they lost 1-0 to South Africa in the semi-finals and by the same score to Cameroon in the third-place play-off.

• A Nigeria defeat, combined with a Malawi victory over Egypt, would eliminate the defending champions at the group stage for the first time.

• Nigeria would also become the first defending champions to be eliminated in the group stage.

• Rasheedat Ajibade scored Nigeria’s first goal in the defeat to Malawi, netting her sixth at the finals.

• This is the fourth edition at which Ajibade has scored.

• Nigeria had eight shots on target against Malawi, with Ajibade attempting four of them.

• Uchenna Kanu scored with her only shot on target.

• Kanu netted her third WAFCON goal, having scored twice at the 2022 edition.

• Nigeria have trailed by two goals in each of their last two WAFCON matches. They were 3-1 down against Malawi, while they trailed Morocco 2-0 in the final of the last edition before recovering to win 3-2.

Zambia – Key Statistics

• Zambia began their campaign with a 6-0 victory over Egypt, their biggest win at the finals.

• The victory surpassed their previous biggest WAFCON win, a 5-0 triumph over Equatorial Guinea in their opening game in 2018.

• Zambia won their opening game at the finals for only the second time, having also done so in 2018.

• They have gone through their last four tournaments without losing their opening match, recording two wins and two draws.

• Zambia have never previously won their opening two group games. Their victory over Equatorial Guinea in their first match in 2018 was followed by a defeat to Nigeria.

• Their overall record in second group games reads P4 W2 D0 L2.

• Zambia won their second group game against Tunisia in 2022 and Senegal at the last edition.

• Both their defeats in second group games came against Nigeria, losing 6-0 in 2014 and 4-0 in 2018.

• Victory, combined with Malawi avoiding defeat against Egypt, would take Zambia through to the knockout stage for a third successive edition. They finished third in 2022 and reached the quarter-finals at the last tournament.

• A win would see Zambia defeat Nigeria as defending champions for the second time, having beaten them 1-0 in the 2022 third-place play-off.

• Barbra Banda scored four goals in the victory over Egypt, becoming the first Zambian player to score a WAFCON hat-trick.

• Banda has scored at successive WAFCON finals, having netted three goals on her tournament debut at the 2024 edition.

• She has taken her overall WAFCON tally to seven goals, with four at the current edition and three at her previous appearance. 

• Banda’s performance against Egypt marked the fourth time she has scored three or more goals in a match at a major tournament.

• She scored back-to-back hat-tricks against the Netherlands and China at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and another against Australia at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

• Banda has scored eight hat-tricks on record for Zambia.

• She is the first player since Asisat Oshoala to score four goals in a WAFCON match. Oshoala scored four in Nigeria’s 6-0 victory over Mali in 2016.

• Zambia attempted 34 shots in the victory over Egypt, their most on record in a WAFCON match.

• They registered 12 shots on target.

• Banda had five shots on target and scored four goals from 11 attempts.

• Grace Chanda made six key passes, more than any other player in the game.

• Zambia won eight corners against Egypt, while their opponents did not have any.