The Tremendous Eagles of Nigeria are in peril of lacking back-to-back FIFA World Cups as they sit fourth in Group C of the qualifiers with simply seven factors from six matches. Regardless of having a few of Africa’s finest attacking skills, the staff has struggled to impress.
Inconsistent Teaching and Poor Outcomes
Nigeria’s qualifying marketing campaign has been chaotic, with three completely different coaches main the staff at completely different phases. José Peseiro oversaw the primary two matches in 2023, each ending in disappointing attracts towards Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Finidi George then took cost, managing a dwelling draw towards South Africa earlier than dropping to Benin. Most just lately, Eric Chelle secured a win towards Rwanda however solely managed a draw towards Zimbabwe.
These inconsistent outcomes have left Nigeria with simply seven factors, forcing followers to start out calculating each attainable state of affairs to maintain their World Cup dream alive.
Can Nigeria Nonetheless Qualify?
With 4 matches left, Nigeria should win all their remaining video games to have any probability of ending second. Their upcoming fixtures embrace Rwanda (dwelling), South Africa (away), Benin (dwelling), and Lesotho (away). Whereas these are video games the Tremendous Eagles needs to be able to profitable, their performances up to now counsel in any other case.
South Africa at the moment lead Group C with 13 factors and wish solely three extra wins to safe a World Cup spot. If Rwanda and Benin draw of their upcoming match, the Bafana Bafana would require simply two wins to qualify, making Nigeria’s process even more durable.
Even when Nigeria win all their video games, they might nonetheless want different groups to drop factors. Given the present standings, it’s unlikely that each one three groups forward of them will instantly wrestle.
Playoffs Appear Unreachable
Ending prime of Group C is sort of inconceivable, and even qualifying for the playoffs is a lengthy shot. Solely the 4 finest second-placed groups from all of the teams will advance to the subsequent stage.
At present, six second-placed groups have already got not less than 12 factors, whereas the seventh has 11. Nigeria, with simply seven factors, are 4 factors behind Burkina Faso, who’re the lowest-ranked second-placed staff. To make the playoffs, Nigeria would want these groups to drop factors whereas they win all their video games—an unlikely state of affairs.
A Glimmer of Hope?
South Africa could face a setback as they fielded Teboho Mokoena, who was ineligible on account of accrued yellow playing cards, of their match towards Lesotho. FIFA could award Lesotho a 3-0 victory, which would scale back South Africa’s factors to 10 and drop their aim distinction from +5 to +2.
If this occurs, South Africa can be simply three factors forward of Nigeria, making the race for second place extra aggressive. Nonetheless, Nigeria would nonetheless must win all their matches and hope for beneficial outcomes elsewhere.
Tremendous Eagles Should Step Up
Regardless of this attainable benefit, Nigeria’s poor type stays a concern. Successful all their remaining matches is the one method they’ll preserve their World Cup hopes alive. Nonetheless, given their performances up to now, there is no such thing as a assure they’ll benefit from the chance.
The street to the 2026 World Cup appears to be like bleak for Nigeria, and except the Tremendous Eagles can flip issues round shortly, they could be watching one other match from dwelling.
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