Super Falcons star suffers season-ending injury after World Cup heartbreak

Super Falcons midfielder Deborah Abiodun has suffered another setback after Nigeria’s heartbreaking failure to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Washington Spirit midfielder has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2026 NWSL season after being moved to the club’s season-ending injury list.

The NWSL side confirmed on Monday that Abiodun will undergo surgery this week after initially being placed on the 45-day injury list earlier this month.

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The 22-year-old midfielder made nine appearances for the Spirit this season, starting four matches and playing 320 minutes before the injury brought her campaign to an early end.

The setback comes less than a month after Abiodun was part of the Super Falcons team that suffered a historic World Cup qualification failure at the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

Nigeria entered the tournament as defending champions and were targeting an 11th continental title, while the expanded WAFCON also provided a route to the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil.

Abiodun was included in Justine Madugu's 25-player squad and was one of the younger players expected to play an important role in midfield.

Deborah Abiodun featured in Nigeria's WAFCON disappointment

Abiodun played just five minutes in the opener against Malawi but became important to the Super Falcons as the tournament progressed.

The Washington Spirit midfielder started Nigeria's final group-stage match against Egypt and completed the full 90 minutes in a 6-2 victory that sent the Falcons into the quarter-finals.

She retained her place against Cameroon in the quarter-final, playing the entire match as Nigeria suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to the Indomitable Lionesses.

The result ended Nigeria's hopes of automatically qualifying for the 2027 Women's World Cup, although the Falcons still had another opportunity through a play-off against South Africa.

Abiodun also started that decisive encounter in Casablanca, but Nigeria suffered another painful defeat. The Super Falcons fell 2-1 to South Africa after goals from Thembi Kgatlana and Refiloe Jane put Banyana Banyana two goals ahead.

Christy Ucheibe pulled one back from the penalty spot in stoppage time, but Nigeria could not find an equaliser. The defeat ended Nigeria's extraordinary record of qualifying for every Women's World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1991.

South Africa, meanwhile, advanced to the next stage of the qualification pathway and will be hoping to claim a spot in the tournament next year.

Abiodun's latest injury means she will now have to focus on her recovery after a difficult few weeks. It is another frustrating setback for a player who had established herself as an important part of Nigeria's midfield.

The midfielder will now begin the road to recovery, with the hope of returning stronger for both club and country.