The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers are still underway in some parts of the world. Different teams are still holding out hope of getting one step closer to playing in the biggest football tournament in the world. The final Group C clash between Nigeria and Benin played out on the 14th October, and there was only one aim — taking the win to keep the dreams of qualifying alive.
Nigeria's World Cup campaign
Nigeria's progression through the qualifying process has been a rather frustrating one. There have been many missed opportunities along the way, and some draws that have cost them points. As such, when it came down to the final Group C qualifier, Nigeria had everything to do. The team failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, losing out to Ghana, their main rivals. And with a rather poor showing in the subsequent matches, it wasn't looking good for Nigeria and their qualifying chances, something that was clear on betting platforms such as
PremierBet Ethiopia, where the odds changed rapidly for the team's likelihood of reaching the World Cup.
What Nigeria needed
Coming into this final round, the Nigerians were sitting third in Group C with 14 points garnered from nine games. Over the previous rounds, the Super Eagles have won three, drawn five and lost one. And it's those draws that have put a spanner in the works for this team and their progression. The campaign has been an inconsistent one. With 11 goals scored, they've conceded almost the same number, with eight scored against them. As such, coming into the final qualifier, Nigeria were behind group leaders, Benin, by three points, and behind South Africa (in second place), by one point.
As such, a win over Benin was not actually enough for the team to move forward and automatically qualify. In fact, while there's a mathematical chance, a lot of things need to line up for the team in order for this to be the case. First, even if Nigeria wins against Benin, its fate also rests in the hands of South Africa. Essentially, for Nigeria to qualify automatically, they needed South Africa to lose or draw against Rwanda.
Hopes are still alive
In the end, the final round of Group C qualifying went well. To a point. The
Nigerians absolutely destroyed their Benin rivals with a 4-0 victory, which saw them jump over them in the table standings. As such, it does keep their hopes alive. Unfortunately for Nigeria, the much-needed draw or loss by South Africa to Rwanda didn't happen. Instead, the South Africans were 3-0 winners, which meant that they too leaped over Benin and took top spot in the group. This means that South Africa is the team automatically qualifying for the World Cup next year. This is because only the nine group winners get to qualify automatically at this stage. However, there's still hope for Nigeria.
The four best runners-up across the African groups will get to qualify for the play-off stage. This means that, as
Nigeria was indeed one of the best runners-up, they're going to be able to move on to this last stage. The team will now head into the CAF play-off semi-finals, which means that the team has another shot. The two winners of each of the semi-finals will then go one step further and play each other in the final to determine which team will be Africa's representative for the inter-confederation play-off stage in Mexico. As such, Nigeria still has a long way to go if they are to achieve its goal of making it to the World Cup this year. If they don't, then this will be the first time the country has had back-to-back failures in reaching the World Cup.
It's going to be a hard road for the Super Eagles as they aim to make it to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. However, if the team can keep some consistency in their play, and utilise Victor Osimhen well (and hope he can score like he did against Benin), then the team stands a solid chance to make it. It's not time to rule them out just yet.
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