President of the Nigeria Football Federation Ibrahim Gusau is optimistic that the Super Eagles can still qualify for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico despite their poor start to the qualification series, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The Super Eagles are rooted fifth in Group C of the qualifying series after three draws and one defeat in four matches.
In a statement of projection for the year 2025, Gusau admitted the Super Eagles’ under-par run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers had been a source of worry to administrators, enthusiasts and fans alike, but he was upbeat about the team’s chances of making the tournament.
“Our commitment is to see how we can cobble back that Super Eagles squad that did the nation proud at the AFCON in Ivory Coast, coming within 23 minutes of lifting the trophy.
“If we can find a way to do that, we can be sure that the target of winning the six remaining matches in the qualifiers to gain automatic qualification to the World Cup is achievable.
“Getting that FIFA World Cup ticket will set the momentum for a sterling outing at the AFCON in Morocco later in the year.”
Despite starting the year 2024 brightly at the 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast, where they finished second, the Super Eagles suffered a dip in form in their opening four games of the series.
They began with consecutive draws against Lesotho (home), Zimbabwe and South Africa (home) before falling to a 2-1 defeat against the Benin Republic.
As a result, Nigeria are on three points, trailing Rwanda, South Africa and the Benin Republic by four points, while Lesotho sit above them with five points.
Their last defeat against the Benin Republic fueled more crises within the team, leading to the exit of coach Finidi George while NFF Technical Director, Austin Eguavoen, took charge of the team on an interim basi,s with a new coach expected before the next round of matches in March 2025.
Nigeria will face Rwanda in Kigali before returning home for the clash against Zimbabwe.
