From Childbirth to WAFCON: Ex-international Okobi’s Fight Against Nigerian Women’s Football Biggest Myth

Former Super Falcons midfielder Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene is challenging a pervasive myth in Nigerian women's football: that marriage and motherhood signal the end of a player's career. Okobi, a four-time Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) winner with 75 international caps, shared her experiences with BBC Sport Africa as Nigeria prepares for the 2026 WAFCON. She married in 2017 and continued to represent Nigeria, later taking a break due to a high-risk pregnancy that caused her to miss the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. After welcoming her son in September 2024, she underwent an intense fitness program and returned to competitive football in June 2025, earning a recall to the national team in early 2026. Okobi believes her journey proves that women can balance family life and elite athletics. She highlighted that negative perceptions, particularly from fans, create fear among players. "Nigerians, most of the fans out there, feel when a woman is married, she’s old," Okobi said. "When a woman gives birth, she’s old, she doesn’t have the strength to do whatever she’s doing." This sentiment, she explained, leads many players to delay marriage. "Most of the girls are so scared to get married. They feel by the time they get married, they won’t be called to the national team anymore." Okobi insists that being a professional athlete does not preclude a woman from having a family or pursuing other ambitions. "Being a soccer player doesn’t stop me from being a wife. It doesn’t stop me from being a career woman, an athlete," she stated. "We need to encourage our women. We need to make them understand that of course they can do more." Nigeria's record 10-time African champions are in Group C for the 2026 WAFCON alongside Malawi, Zambia, and Egypt.

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Nigerians, most of the fans out there, feel when a woman is married, she’s old. When a woman gives birth, she’s old, she doesn’t have the strength to do whatever she’s doing.