Experienced football fans have probably noticed more than once that five African teams out of thirty-two participants in the World Cup is somehow too few, given that there are many strong national teams in Africa. Starting from the 2026 World Cup, 48 teams will compete in the final stage, and this allowed CAF representation to increase to nine full-fledged spots, plus one more to the intercontinental playoffs.
It would seem that in such situations there is no need to worry about the Nigerian national team reaching the World Cup, which was recently considered the main favorite of the African Cup of Nations and almost did not disappoint, reaching the final and only losing there to Cote d’Ivoire. However, the start of the Nigerian teams qualifying campaign has looked so disorganized that fans certainly cannot remain calm. If you want to bet on sports, go to
rasmiy sayti, but for now it’s worth taking a closer look at the chances of Nigerians.
Selection conditions
Under previous World Cup formats, African qualifying sometimes involved more than one round, making each individual teams chances at the start of qualifying difficult to predict. Now everything is somewhat simpler, because the global qualifying tournament is not divided into stages.
Nine direct tickets to the World Cup will be given to the winners of the qualifying groups, most of which consist of six teams. Nigeria is in sextet C, where it will compete with the teams of Rwanda, South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Benin. At first glance, these are not all giants of African football, but the important point is that misfires are extremely undesirable - only the victor will go to the World Cup.
If it happens that Nigeria does not take first place in the group, the chances of qualifying still remain, but turn into illusory. To get to the World Championships without becoming the leader of a sextet, you need to meet an impressive set of conditions:
- become the second team in your group;
- enter the list of the four best second teams in the African qualification for the World Cup;
- successively win the semi-final and final matches against the same African teams trying to grab the last chance - the winner of the mini-tournament gets a ticket to the intercontinental playoffs;
- emerge victorious in the intercontinental playoffs, where you need to beat one or two (depending on the rating) opponents from other continents.
Modest successes of the Nigerian national team so far
The group tournament is played in two rounds - with six competing teams, there are ten rounds. The first two of them were played back in November 2023, and for fans of the Nigerian national team they were a real disappointment: both times their favorites drew with the same score 1:1. Let us note that the truly difficult tests had not yet begun: first we took Lesotho home, then we went to Zimbabwe.
In Group C, after two rounds, there were no teams left that would score one hundred percent of the points, but with their two points, Nigeria found itself in third place, which does not even qualify for the intercontinental playoffs. True, the competitors were not able to significantly break away (Rwanda had a win and a draw, South Africa had a triumph and a defeat), so in eight matches the current situation can be corrected.
Odds in remaining matches
Having made two misfires in the opening rounds, it’s time for Nigeria to stop such experiments and start focusing on results, otherwise the qualifying tournament could end in disappointment. The Super Eagles hardly need an intercontinental playoff, but even that is by no means guaranteed. The team will improve its position in matches with rivals, which are worth examining in a little more detail.
- South Africa is probably the main opponent; home game on June 3, 2024, away on September 5, 2025. The South Africans defeated modest Benin in the first round, and then made their own misfire, losing away to Rwanda 0:2. 59th place in the ranking (against Nigerias 30th position) shouldnt be scary on paper, but the Nigerians have already shown that they can squander points. In the last 11 meetings, the Super Eagles have won six times and drawn four more times, but there was also room for defeat. In the recent CAN 2024 semi-final, this opponent gave the favorite a ticket to the final only in a penalty shootout!
- Benin: away game on June 7, home game on October 10. The 97th team in the FIFA rating is still the main outsider of the group: they lost to the South Africans on the road, and at home with Lesotho they drew a goalless draw. Over the last 15 years (3 meetings), the Benin team has consistently lost to the Nigerian national team.
- Rwanda is the groups temporary leader; two meetings in 2025 - March 17 away, September 1 at home. A modest 131st place in the FIFA rankings does not stop these guys from playing: they spared Zimbabwe at home (0:0), but then mercilessly dealt with South Africa (2:0). It is curious that the Rwandans rarely met the Nigerians: in recent years there was only one match at the 2018 African Nations Championship that ended without goals scored.
- Zimbabwe home game 21 March 2025. The 122nd team in the world ranking is not a very convenient opponent for Nigeria: they have already played in a draw in this selection, the friendly match ended in the same way five years ago, and the last time the Nigerians defeated the Zimbabweans was back at the 2014 African Nations Championship in the match for third place.
- Lesotho - away game on October 6, 2025. The lowest-rated opponent - 149th position - managed to unpleasantly surprise the Super Eagles, taking away points from them. Nigeria had previously won head-to-head matches twice without much effort.
Conclusion
Technically, the task of reaching the World Cup for Nigeria is quite simple - having gathered their thoughts, this team can win all eight matches, guaranteeing themselves first place before the last round. It is most logical to assume that the Super Eagles will pick up the pace and take their toll, winning a direct ticket, without any intercontinental playoffs.
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