Coach Eric Sekou Chelle says the Super Eagles of Nigeria will give everything they have to secure a decent win over the Cheetahs of Benin Republic and hope for favour from Nelspruit as the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying race hits the final matchday on Tuesday.
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.
However, 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, Nigeria is the only one among the three contenders for the lone ticket from the group that has 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 on Tuesday evening and South Africa fail to trounce Rwanda at Mbombela.
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 Lookman, with the six-time finalists also missing wing-backs Olaoluwa Aina and Bright Osayi-Samuel through injuries.
Gernot Rohr and his army will have the backing of Benin Republic’s 11.5million people, just as Nigeria’s 220 million people, including dozens of thousands who will be in the stands, will be cheering on the Super Eagles.
A two-goal win by the Super Eagles, and failure by South Africa to beat Rwanda in Nelspruit, will earn Nigeria an automatic ticket to the 23rd FIFA World Cup finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer.
(Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe)
