Why Nigeria May Not Qualify For 2026 World Cup

The Super Eagles’ chances of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup have suffered a major blow before their matches against Lesotho and the Benin Republic.

As it stands, Nigeria currently occupy the third position in Group C with 11 points from eight matches, three points behind table-toppers, Benin Republic, and second-placed South Africa.

Only 10 teams are expected to represent Africa in the tournament with nine teams qualifying automatically by topping their groups, and the four best second-placed teams across the nine groups will participate in a playoff in the second round of the qualifiers.

The second round will pit the four best runners-up in two one-off semi-finals, followed by a final. The winner of this second round will participate in the FIFA Play-Off Tournament.

However, results elsewhere have put Nigeria’s chances of qualifying for the tournament on a knife-edge.

On Tuesday, Burkina Faso recorded a 1-0 win over Sierra Leone, Cameroon edged Mauritius 2-0, and Madagascar pipped Comoros 2-1 to increase their points, boosting their chances of picking the best second place slot.

Consequently, The victory moved Gabon up to 19 points from eight matches, Madagascar can boast of 19 points from nine matches, Cameroon have 18 points from nine matches.

All the teams have all surpassed the maximum points that the Super Eagles can achieve even if they win their two remaining matches against Lesotho on Friday and Benin Republic on Tuesday to finish on 17 points.

Meaning, The only way Nigeria can qualify for the World Cup is to finish top of Group C by winning their last two games, while hoping that Benin Republic, and South Africa fail to win their own games.

The Super Eagles will take on Lesotho on Friday in South Africa, and Benin Republic on Tuesday at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.