Zambia coach reveals why her team failed to beat 10-player Nigeria

Zambia head coach Nora Hauptle has admitted her side squandered a golden opportunity after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Nigeria’s Super Falcons in their 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) Group C encounter.

The Copper Queens were handed a numerical advantage for more than half of Saturday’s contest after Super Falcons defender Tosin Demehin was shown a straight red card for a foul on Barbra Banda in the first half.

However, despite playing against 10 women for much of the match, Zambia failed to break down the resilient Nigerian defence, with Asisat Oshoala’s early strike proving decisive.

Speaking after the match, Hauptle acknowledged that Zambia controlled large periods of the game but failed to capitalize on their advantage.

“I think we had a lot of control and created a lot of breaks which were stopped by fouls, and the red card was correct. Nigeria had a breakthrough from which they scored, which was the keeper’s error due to her position,” Hauptle said.

The Swiss tactician revealed she altered her team’s shape after the interval in an attempt to dominate possession and make use of the extra player.

“After halftime, we decided to change the system, so we went with a 4-4-2. The objective was to dominate with the ball and use our numerical advantage.

“But the issue we had was that we started launching the ball from the defence to the attack, which did not help us dominate the game, and we did not take control of possession,” she explained.

Although Zambia introduced more technically gifted players in search of an equaliser, Hauptle admitted they still failed to create enough genuine scoring opportunities.

She added, “We brought in more skillful players, which helped us become better, but we didn’t create lots of dangerous chances. We also didn’t allow Nigeria anything, so they only scored from one of the two breaks they had.”

“It was in our hands, but we did not take our chance to beat Nigeria. Now we need to focus on the next game and go all out against Malawi.”

The defeat leaves the Copper Queens with a daunting task in their final Group C fixture against tournament leaders Malawi on Wednesday.