We turn back to the international front as Nigeria has been reflecting on their 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Group A rivals ahead of the tournament that begins June 7th. The Super Falcons face hosts France, South Korea, and Norway in what is expected to be a tough pool. CGTN's Deji Badmus has more.

The nine-time African champions enter the World Cup as one of the least favorites in the group. Ranked 34th in the world, the Super Falcons are also the lowest ranked team in the group in stark contrast to their other group rivals who are all among the World's best top 20 female teams. Lying third on the world ranking, host, France, are the top most ranked team in the group, while Norway and South Korea are not far behind in 13th and 14th place respectively. Nigeria has never faced South Korea in the World Cup but come up against the Asians in their second group match.

TOYIN IBITOYE FOOTBALL ANALYST "It's a tough group, very tough group. But it is not impossible to get out of the group. Just a few months ago we played a friendly against France, they beat us 8-nil. So that shows you how much work we need to do."

Aside from their group opponents, Nigeria also has a poor record in the World Cup. In seven previous World Cup appearances, the Super Falcons only made it past the group stage once, in 1999. At that tournament they made it through to the quarterfinal but were edged out 4-3 by Brazil after extra time. Their statistics in the tournament is also not pleasing. They have played 22 games so far won only three, drawn three and lost 16. It is basically to reverse the trend that Coach Thomas Dennerby was hired in January of 2018. He is the former head coach of the Swedish National team leading them to two World Cups in 2007 and 2011. That experience gives him enough confidence that he can lead Nigeria past what looks like a tough group.

THOMAS DENNERBY NIGERIA COACH "When it comes to defence, we played perfect but we need to improve the attacking play a little. So that is where we need to work on before the world cup."

TOYIN IBITOYE FOOTBALL ANALYST "Between now and the world cup we have about seven months to prepare. What he would be able to do within these seven months will determine how well we will be able to perform. The quality of the friendly games, the quality of the training, the quality of the preparation will say a lot about how well we are able to perform. So we are hoping that the foreign Coach is able to bridge that gap."

DEJI BADMUS LAGOS, NIGERIA "Coach Dennerby and his Super Falcons have still got plenty of time to turn things around dramatically. And one of the things many analysts are suggesting is quality friendlies with top teams in the world. The argument is that for the Super Falcons to go far in the world cup, where they would be meeting some of the best teams in the world, then they must first test themselves against some of those teams in friendly matches. DB,CGTN,L,N."