Nigeria’s final moment is here to know if the Super Eagles will be amongst the nine teams that will gain direct qualifications from Africa to the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be hosted by USA, Mexico and Canada.
And next door neighbors, Benin Republic Cheetahs, are standing between Nigeria and the ticket same way rivals Ghana did and eventually denied Super Eagles the trip to Qatar for the 2022 edition, the first in the Middle East!
However, win alone in Uyo is not enough as Coach Eric Chelle and his technical crew will have their ears to the ground, listening to proceedings from Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, where second placed South Africa will be battling Rwanda for the same ticket. A win for Bafana Bafana will make meaningless any slim victory of Eagles over Benin Republic. Only win above 3-0 may put Nigeria amongst the four best runner ups of all the nine groups. The withdrawal of Eritrea from the qualifiers and CAF’s decision to give all the second placed teams a fair deal by subtracting matches played against last teams in all the groups reopened Super Eagles route through this window. It is yet a 50-50 chance.
Above is the scenario confronting the Super Eagles as Nigeria battle Benin Republic in the final Match-day 10 games of the African qualification series for the 2026 World Cup.
Already, Coach Chelle has insisted that the Super Eagles will give everything they have to secure a decent win over Benin Republic and hope for divine favour from Nelspruit.
Group C leaders Benin Republic, on 17 points, have their fate in their hands as a win over Nigeria at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium will earn them their first-ever FIFA World Cup ticket.
Nigeria have not missed two consecutive FIFA World Cup finals since first reaching the finals in 1994, and will throw everything into Tuesday’s battle.
Regardless of their surprising third place in the group going into the final matchday, Super Eagles are the only one among the three contenders for the lone ticket from the group that have lost only one match. Both Benin Republic and second-placed South Africa, who have 15 points and host Rwanda’s Amavubi, have each lost two matches.
No doubt, the Cheetahs, now coached by former Nigeria gaffer Gernot Rohr, have conducted a campaign to be proud of, as they hunt for their first-ever ticket to the global finals. Their 17 points and two-point cushion at the top means they will live their dream if they secure a point in Uyo this evening and South Africa fail to trounce Rwanda at Mbombela Stadium.
In contrast, Nigeria is seeking a seventh FIFA World Cup appearance, having made the Round of 16 in three of their previous three, and the spine of the Class of 2025 know this could be their only chance of sitting at world football’s highest podium.
Captain William Ekong and midfielder Alex Iwobi featured at the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals but that was a competition the Super Eagles left at the group stage, and both will surely prefer to experience another tournament with all the glitz and glamour that North America promises next summer.
Ekong, voted Man of the Competition at last year’s Africa Cup of Nations final, is set to win his 83rd cap on Tuesday while Iwobi will earn his 89th.
Top scorer and 2023 Africa Player of the Year, Victor Osimhen, defender Calvin Bassey, midfielders Frank Onyeka and Raphael Onyedika, and forwards Simon Moses, Samuel Chukwueze and Ademola Lookman, among others, have not been to the FIFA World Cup finals.
The Cheetahs have been to only four Africa Cup of Nations finals, as against the Super Eagles’ 20 participations, and their all-time high was a quarter-final berth in Egypt six years ago, compared to Nigeria’s three titles, five runner-up positions and eight third-place finishes.
Both teams will miss a number of key players on Tuesday. Benin Republic’s central defender Yohan Roche and defensive midfielder Sessi d’Almeida are suspended, just as Nigeria’s Africa Player of the Year Ademola Lookman, with the six-time finalists also missing wing-backs Olaoluwa Aina and Bright Osayi-Samuel through injuries.
GROUP C STANDINGS
Teams. P. W. D. L. GD. PTS
Benin. 9. 5. 2. 2. +5. 17
S’Africa. 9. 4. 3. 2. +3. 15
Nigeria. 9. 3. 5. 1. +3. 14
Lesotho. 10. 3. 3. 4. -3. 12
Rwanda. 9. 3. 2. 4. -1. 11
Zimbabwe. 10. 0. 5. 5. -7. 5
