Super Falcons and Toronto AFC Women forward Esther Okoronkwo may be unavailable for Nigeria’s women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2026 campaign. Okoronkwo was one of Nigeria’s standout players in the last edition, which saw the Super Falcons lift the continental trophy for a historic 10th time.
Okoronkwo scored two goals and providing seven assists to help the Nigerian female football team become champions in Morroco. However, a recent report suggests that the 28-year-old may miss the tournament in Morroco this year due to injury. Okoronkwo went down in AFC Toronto’s goalless draw against Halifax Women five days ago.
Further checks confirmed that the former Saint-Etienne attacker suffered a meniscus tear and will be out for six weeks.
AFC Toronto Women’s head coach Marco Milanovic said: “We do have an update. Esther suffered a bit of a meniscus damage to her knee and the initial prognosis is that she’ll be out for about six weeks. She’s obviously a key player for us, just like Sam was. When she first came in, she was initially out for the season.
“I love this group of players, I have a lot of confidence in them. So, any injury present any opportunity for someone else. We have a lot of depth up top and I’m very confident that those players will take the opportunity and make the most of it,” Milanovic added.
Okoronkwo’s likely absence will be a big blow to the Super Falcon’s campaign in Morroco. The WAFCON 2026, which was initially scheduled to be held between 17 March and 3 April, was postponed to take place from 25 July – 16 August 2026.
With just a couple of months away, the tournament also serves as a World Cup qualifier which sees semifinalists secure their tickets to the World Cup next year.
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