South Africa’s comfortable win over Lesotho and Benin’s narrow victory against Zimbabwe have left the Super Eagles fighting to keep their 2026 World Cup dreams alive – www.naijnaira.com reports.
According to Soccernet.ng, Friday’s Group C fixtures completely reshuffled the qualification picture, putting Nigeria in a far more dangerous position than before.
South Africa dominated their clash in Free State, scoring three times through Mohau Nkota, Lyle Foster, and Oswin Appollis to secure maximum points.
That result pushed Bafana Bafana to 16 points, a lead that now feels like a mountain for the rest of the group.
Benin also made a big statement at home with Steve Mounié’s decisive header against Zimbabwe, moving them into second place with 11 points.
Nigeria, stuck on seven points, trail Benin by four and South Africa by nine, leaving them in fourth place behind Rwanda.
The math is brutal for the Super Eagles—every game left is must-win, no slip-ups allowed.
Upcoming fixtures against Rwanda and South Africa carry the weight of the entire campaign.
Coach Gernot Rohr, once in charge of Nigeria and now leading Benin, has piled unexpected pressure on his old team.
As it stands, anything less than perfection from Victor Osimhen and his teammates could see Nigeria miss out on automatic qualification to North America.
For fans, the World Cup calculator has become painfully clear: win everything, or watch the dream fade.
Article updated 3 weeks ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
