Nigeria's Super Falcons will to return to action in June, against Senegal, ending their long stretch without a match as they try to pick up the pace on their stuttered preparations for the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
The announcement came via the Super Falcons Show, an NFF-sanctioned social media channel, which said the games would be played at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, Ogun State.
"Nigeria's senior women's national team, the Super Falcons, will take on Senegal Women's National Team in a double-header international friendly scheduled for June 5 and 8," the post read.
If the games do go ahead as planned, it would end three months of inactivity for the 10-time African champions who last played on March 3, when they came from behind to beat Cameroon 3-1 in Yaoundé, the second of two friendlies that week and the sum total of their competitive activity since last October.
Nigeria had initially planned a training camp and friendly against Jamaica in the United Kingdom during the June FIFA window, but the arrangement collapsed after Jamaica withdrew from a proposed friendly.
Jamaica cited FIFA regulations that would have left clubs with no obligation to release players during dates that fell outside the women's international calendar.
Before that, a proposed double-header against Cape Verde in April also fell through.
Earlier in the year, the Super Falcons were also due to participate in a WAFU B women's tournament in Ivory Coast alongside Ghana, Senegal and the hosts, only for the competition to be cancelled.
Nigeria were the only top African women's side that did not play a single match during the final FIFA window of 2025, which ran from late November into December. They also missed the last FIFA international window last month.
Nigeria head coach Justin Madugu says the problem is the Super Falcons' own stature.
"The fact is that most teams are not ready to play us," the coach told Brila FM. "The federation may agree at first, but when the coaches are consulted, they refuse because they don't want to face the Super Falcons."
He confirmed that more than five countries had been contacted and every one declined: "We're not happy about it because it's not helping our preparations also.
"But then, what can you do when you don't have anybody that is ready to play against you?"
The disruptions have left Madugu with limited opportunities to work with his full squad ahead of WAFCON, where Nigeria have been drawn alongside Zambia, Egypt and Malawi.
Nigeria and Senegal have sparse history at senior level in women's football. Their most notable meeting came during qualification for the 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, when Senegal held Nigeria to a 1-1 draw in Dakar before the Falcons won 2-0 in Abuja to advance.
At youth level, Nigeria's Falconets knocked Senegal out of FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup qualifying earlier this year, winning 3-1 on aggregate across two legs.
Still, the Senegalese are expected to provide a sterner test than their recent record against Nigeria may suggest. The Teranga Lionesses have grown steadily in recent years and qualified for consecutive WAFCON tournaments.
The Falcons, meanwhile, remain under pressure to restore consistency after an uneven buildup to the continental championship with this year's WAFCON tournament also serving as qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Africa's four semi-finalists will earn automatic tickets to Brazil. Nigeria Are one of only seven countries to have qualified for every Women's World Cup in history. Missing the semi-finals in Morocco would end that streak.
NFF General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi said earlier this year that the federation's priority was ensuring the team had adequate preparation before WAFCON and the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers.