striker Mariem Houij is not unaware of Nigeria’s pedigree at the WAFCON, but she remains optimistic that they can go all the way to reach the final of the 2024 tournament, which will begin in Morocco on Saturday, July 5, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Nigeria will be seeking a 10th continental title in Morocco, having won nine of 12 championships that have been contested since the Confederation of African Football launched the event as a tourn ament in 1998, to become Africa’s most decorated women’s national team.

For this year’s edition, they are in Group B where they will face Tunisia, Botswana and Algeria.

Nigeria and Tunisia will face off in their first group game in Casablanca on Sunday, July 6, and Houij is confident about their chances against the Super Falcons as well as other teams in the group.

“Nigeria is the most decorated team in the WAFCON. In the last edition, they were eliminated in the semi-finals by the host nation, Morocco. We beat Botswana in a friendly last year in Tunis. As for Algeria, their playing style is similar to ours, and we’ve won both of our recent matches against them.

“That said, official matches are completely different from friendlies. Our coaching staff is analysing every opponent in detail to prepare us well,” she said via CAF’s website.

The 30-year-old scored the fastest goal in the history of the WAFCON (17 seconds) against Togo on July 3, 2022 – exactly three years ago – during the last edition, which was also held in Morocco, and she is dreaming big ahead of this year’s edition.

“The ideal scenario would be reaching the final. We have a strong, long-standing group that has been reinforced with new players due to the postponement of the 2024 edition to 2025. We’re ready to take on the challenge and give Tunisia—and the entire continent—a memorable performance.”

The Super Falcons are the most successful side in the history of the tournament since it became full-scale in 1998, winning nine of the 12 editions so far and making it to at least the semi-final in every tournament they have played.

Equatorial Guinea won as hosts of the 2008 and 2012 editions, and South Africa are the current champions, having won the latest 2022 edition to become the third African nation to ever win the tournament.

Morocco, Ghana, and Cameroon are the only nations outside of the previous winners to have also made it to the tournament’s final.