Nigeria faced disappointment in their attempt to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Now, they face another challenging road to the 2026 edition of the competition.
In order to secure a spot in the World Cup, Nigeria must emerge as the winners of a group that includes South Africa, Benin Republic (coached by Gernot Rohr, who previously led the Super Eagles), Lesotho, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe.
The winners of each group will automatically qualify for the World Cup, while the four best group runners-up will enter a playoff stage to determine the representative from Africa in an inter-confederation tournament in March 2026.
The first round of fixtures for the African qualifiers will take place in November.
Nigeria’s previous encounters with South Africa have generally been in favor of the Super Eagles, but South Africa did manage to defeat Nigeria in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Benin Republic has also struggled against Nigeria in the past, but with Rohr’s knowledge of the Nigerian team, they may pose a challenge.
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
