DURHAM – Former Duke women’s soccer standout Toni Payne has been selected by Nigeria to represent her home nation in the 2024 Women Olympic Football Tournament Qualifier matches this month.
Payne and her Nigeria squad will face Cameroon in Douala, Cameroon on Friday, Feb. 23 and Monday, Feb. 26.
Since only two teams can qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics out of Africa, Nigeria needs to win both of these matches with Cameroon. The seeding for the qualifying tournament is based on results from the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations where Nigeria fell in the semifinal to Morocco. Nigeria entered Olympic qualifying in the second round, beating Ethiopia with an aggregate score of 5-1 across two legs in October 2023.
If Nigeria advances past Cameroon, the squad will face either Tanzania or current AFCON Champions South Africa in its final match of the qualifying tournament.
Payne, a 2017 Duke graduate, helped lead Nigeria to the round of 16 over the summer of 2023 at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. She currently plays professionally for Sevilla FC in Spain as well.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women’s soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “https://goduke.com/news/2024/2/22/DukeWSOC”.
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