Int’l Friendlies: Nigeria’s opponents, Tunisia, battles host Morocco ahead WAFCON 2025 

By Harry Awurumibe, Africa’s No.1 Women’s Football Writer

Ahead of the 2025 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) slated for Morocco in July, one of Nigeria’s group opponents in the competition Tunisia will on Tuesday in the city of Casablanca take on the host nation Morocco  during the 2025 FIFA women’s international match calendar running from March 31 to April 8.

This is even as Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses will today face the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon in a high-profile international friendly match also in Casablanca in the build up to the biggest African women’s football competition in the North African nation.

Elsewhere, other WAFCON 2025 qualifiers in action during this international match window are Ghana, Senegal, Zambia, and defending champions South Africa with the South Africans hosting Malawi over two games on April 5 and April 8, respectively.

Also, two other West African qualifiers, Senegal and Ghana, will clash over two matches in Thiès on April 5 and 8 while Zambia will use the matches against Thailand and China to prepare for the WAFCON in Morocco.

However, two nations that failed to qualify for  WAFCON 2025, Ivory Coast and Kenya are using the international window to play a two-match friendly on April 4 and 8 just as the two countries are preparing ahead to ensure they stage a comeback to WAFCON 2026 with Ivory Coast eyeing a return since 2014 and Kenya are looking at a second appearance since 2016.

Prompt News reports that many African countries that qualified for WAFCON 2025 have been busy playing international friendly matches since January 2025, especially Nigeria’s group opponents Tunisia, Algeria and Botswana.

For example, Tunisia utilised the February international match window to play two friendly matches against Kenya drawing 0-0 and losing 0-1 on February 21 and 26 respectively just as Botswana lost to DR Congo 0-2 on February 20 and 26, and another 0-2.

Meanwhile, the Super Falcons who also qualified for WAFCON 2025 are yet to play any friendly match with just three months to the July kick-off date for the tournament. Nigeria played her last international friendly against France at Stade Raymond Kopa in Angers on November 30, 2024.

After their last WAFCON title in 2018, the Super Falcons under former coach Randy Waldrum finished fourth at the 2022 edition in Morocco – with a defeat to South Africa in the group stages and the the third-place loss against Zambia being reality checks on the team’s supposed dominance in Africa.

The next international break for women will be from May 26 to June 3, one month to the next tournament.

The current dates are within *Seven Windows*:

1. March 31/April 8 (2 matches)

2. May 26/ June 3 (2 matches)

3. June 23/July 5 (2,3,4)

4 .July 2-27 (UEFA Women’s Euro 2025)

5. July 12/ August 2 (Copa América Femenina)

6 .October 20-29 (2 or 3 matches)

7. November 24/December 2, 2025 (2 matches).