Super Eagles push hard to Qualify for 2026 FIFA World Cup

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will at 5 pm on Friday, in far away Kigali, Rwanda, begin their quest to bounce back to reckoning, and earn a place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals.

The Nigerians will be lining-up against the Amavubis of Rwanda, at the refurbished Amahoro Stadium, in Kigali.

After taking only three from a possible 12 points, most pundits agree Nigeria are precariously placed in Group C, and are obliged to win all of their remaining fixtures, in the qualifying campaign, starting from Friday’s encounter against Rwanda, and the fixture against the Warriors of Zimbabwe in Uyo four days later; if they are to win the group.

Having highlighted how crucial the two upcoming and must-win games are for the Super Eagles, it is heart-warming that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has a new Coaching Crew, headed by Franco-Malian, Eric Serkou Chellé whose arduous task of reversing the fortunes of Nigeria effectively begins today.

With so many odds stacked against the team, Nigeria and Coach Chellé will be searching for their first win in the qualifiers, having drawn three and lost one of their four games so far.

They will be looking to overcome the very strong start by Rwanda, who have seemingly punched above their weight in the qualifiers, and are top of the group by collecting seven points from their opening four games, which includes an eye-catching 2-Nil victory over the Bafana Bafana of South Africa.

Nigeria’s campaign began with a frustrating 1-1 draw at home to Lesotho, followed by another 1-1 draw away to Zimbabwe, and a 1-2 loss to the Republic of Benin.

After blowing the chance of playing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Qatar, the NFF, the Super Eagles, as three time African Champions, and their millions of fans in Nigeria and in the diaspora, are fully aware of the dire need to avoid missing back-to-back World Cups.

Since their debut appearance at the Mundial, hosted by the USA in 1994, the only other time the Super Eagles missed-out on a World Cup finals party was in 2006, when Angola upset Nigeria by qualifying for their first and only finals, via the head-to-head rule.

As for Rwanda, they too are adjusting to the advent of a new Head Coach, Adel Amrouche, who will be eager to make a statement with an improbable win over Nigeria in his debut game.

Like Eric Serkou Chellé, who is Franco-Malian, Amrouche is a Belgian-Algerian and today’Friday evening’s tie is set nicely for both tacticians, the two countries, their multitude of fans, and for the star-studded Super Eagles of Nigeria, the backing and blessings of the federal government should fuel their wings to fly even higher and well above the Amavubis.

Reporting by Chinedum Ohanusi; Editing by Adeniyi Bakare and Tony Okerafor