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

Former Levante midfielder, Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene has revealed that many Super Falcons players are afraid to get married because they fear it could cost them their place in Nigeria’s national team.

The 32-year-old, who has won four Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) titles and earned 75 international caps, made the comments while speaking to BBC Sport Africa as Nigeria prepare for the 2026 WAFCON in Morocco.

Okobi knows the challenges first-hand. She married her husband, Okeoghene Ahmed in 2017 and continued representing Nigeria shortly after her wedding. Years later, she stepped away from football because of a high-risk pregnancy, missing the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

After seven years of marriage, she welcomed her first child, a baby boy named Nathan in September 2024 in Canada. Five months later, in February 2025, she began an intense fitness programme to regain match sharpness before making her return to competitive football in June 2025. She came off the bench in the 83rd minute for Ottawa Rapid FC in Canada’s Northern Super League, completing a remarkable comeback only eight months after giving birth.

Her performances eventually earned her a recall to the Super Falcons by head coach, Justin Madugu in early 2026 for friendly matches against Cameroon and Senegal. Okobi-Okeoghene has been included in Nigeria’s squad to the 2026 WAFCON in Morocco, where the record 10-time African champions are drawn in Group C alongside Malawi, Zambia and Egypt.

2026 WAFCON

Sunday

Algeria v Senegal

Morocco v Kenya

Okobi believes her journey proves that marriage and motherhood do not have to bring an end to a footballer’s career.

The experienced midfielder said negative attitudes towards married women and mothers remain the key reason some Nigerian players delay starting families.

“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.”

According to the former Washington Spirit star, those opinions have created fear among several members of the Super Falcons.

“They keep making us feel bad about ourselves,” she said. “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 rejected that belief, insisting that being an athlete should not prevent 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 added.”We need to encourage our women. We need to make them understand that of course they can do more.”Motherhood should not be the end of anyone’s story.

Okobi helped Nigeria win WAFCON titles in 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2018, scored against Sweden at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada, and was named the Live Your Goal Player of the Match.

Four years later, she played every minute of Nigeria’s campaign at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, helping the Super Falcons reach the knockout stage for the first time in 20 years.

Now, she is helping the Super Falcons prepare for another WAFCON campaign in Morocco, where they will face Malawi on July 28, Zambia on August 1 and Egypt on August 5.