The Nigerian squad has advanced to the round of 16, where they will face the defending champions of Europe, the England Falcons, on Monday in Brisbane. Pundits have referred to the pool as the "Group of death," due to the participation of teams like the Japan 2020 Olympic winners, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and the Falcons. However, the squad did exceptionally well in the pool.
The team with the lowest ranking in the group, Nigeria, managed to amaze the entire world by earning a draw against Canada, winning over Australia, and then playing to a tie with Ireland in their final match, which ensured that they would advance to the round of 16.

As is customary, a large number of fans are under the impression that England will win the match on Monday, but Waldrum is not buying that. When Waldrum was asked about the reasons behind his team's remarkable performance thus far in the tournament, he highlighted two crucial aspects.
In an interview with FIFA.com, he stated, "The first thing is the chemistry and the bond we have." You heard Asisat (Oshoala) speak after the game against Australia. She remarked that it doesn't matter if she plays for the full 90 minutes or not; she's going to do her best regardless of how long she has on the pitch. Additionally, she was very prompt in praising the efforts that her teammates and the team as a whole had made. Even though she was the one who scored such a crucial goal for us, she handed the credit to the other team. This is the mentality that each of our athletes possesses.

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"Another thing about this team that truly strikes me is the amount of fight they have. It's one thing to have talent and another thing to have a solid team, but there's something to be said about what's in your heart and how you feel about things. That is intrinsic, and it is a component of their DNA. After falling behind by a goal late in the first half of our match against Australia, it would have been simple for us to give up, but instead, we fought back and scored the tying goal just before halftime. The determination, fierceness, and will to win displayed by this team have been nothing short of astounding.
Waldrum said the following in reference to the matchup versus Ireland: "This game is a little bit different for us. Coming from the United States, I was quite familiar with Canada and have even coached quite a number of the players from that country throughout the course of my career. Due to the fact that I was aware of their intended strategy, formulating the game plan was not too difficult. After conducting some reconnaissance in the country of Australia, we were aware of their advantages.

"Ireland has performed really admirably thus far in this competition. Despite the fact that they have been eliminated from competition, they have played two really solid matches and were likely just a little bit unlucky not to earn a result versus Canada. We are currently ranked 40th in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking, whereas they are ranked in the top 20.

Waldrum stated that the Falcons' objective is to improve upon their performance in 1999, when they made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament. He added, however, that their primary focus is on the match against England.

"I know that the team from 1999 were quite successful (at that tournament, Nigeria made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup, and we've advanced out of the group stage twice in our history, but I don't know that any team has ever had this sort of competition in the group before.
"I just get the impression that everyone thinks we are going to surprise some people at this World Cup," she said.Our trip is not finished, and we will be extremely well prepared for whoever we face the following week," he stated. "Our journey is not over."