While Morocco’s Atlas Lions, last night, booked their spot in the next FIFA World Cup finals, to be hosted between 11 June and 19 July 2026 by the United States, with Canada and Mexico as auxiliary hosts, the Super Eagles fly out this evening at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo realising that victory in their remaining four matches may not even guarantee automatic qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals.
The seventh round of matches out of 10 (except Group E which has eight matches per team) in every of the nine groups will be concluded with the Nigeria versus Rwanda game, while Matchday 8 runs from Sunday to Tuesday. At the moment, Nigeria lie in fourth in Group C, bossed by South Africa, who consolidated their hold on the group by thrashing hosts Lesotho 3-0 on Friday night. The best a win over the Wasps of Rwanda in the Akwa Ibom State capital will fetch Éric Chelle’s team is third spot on the log, behind South Africa and Benin Republic.
Only one team per group will qualify automatically to the finals to represent Africa. Results of runners-up in each of the nine groups will determine the best four to go through a maze of playoffs against one team each from the Asian Football Confederation, South American Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation, and also two from the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football. The games involving these teams will decide the last two FIFA World Cup berths.
The bottom four teams in the FIFA World Rankings will be drawn into two single-elimination matches. The winners of those matches will advance to play the top two teams in two single-elimination matches, and the winners will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals. The play-offs will be held in March 2026 in North America.
From six matches, the Super Eagles have only acquired seven points, defeating only their Uyo opponents – Rwanda – away in March 2-0. Nigeria recorded three straight draws when the qualifiers opened, forcing Lesotho (at home), Zimbabwe (away) and South Africa (home) to 1-1 on each occasion. In between the results against Zimbabwe and South Africa, the Super Eagles lost 0-2 in an away encounter to neighbours Benin Republic in Abidjan 1-2.
After the fixture in Uyo, the Super Eagles will head to South Africa to face the group leaders, who will require maximum points to almost ascertain qualification. In three FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Nigeria have won two and drawn the other against the Bafana Bafana.
When the international window reopens net month, the Super Eagles will be away to Lesotho and return home to play the last qualifier against Benin Republic.
Since their debut in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, also hosted by the United States, Nigeria have not missed two successive finals. After three consecutive appearances in 1994, 1998 and 2002, the Super Eagles crashed out to Angola at the last state of qualification for the 2006 finals in Germany. The country picked up in 2010 at South Africa – Africa’s first time of hosting the global competition – and also in Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018. For the 2022 finals in Qatar, Nigeria got to the last stage (third round) in the continental qualification series but lost by away goal rule to sub-regional rivals Ghana to miss out.
A brace by PSV Eindhoven’s right winger, Ismael Saibari plus goals by Ayoub El Kaabi of Olympiacos, Lille’s Hamza Igamane and Girona’s Azzedine Ounahi delivered maximum points for Morocco against Niger Republic on Friday night to confirm the Atlas Lions’ qualification for the 2026 finals. They thus became Africa’s first team in the 2026 finals.
But there are other sides on the verge of pulling through – and some may even do so on Matchday 8, to be played next month. In Group A, Egypt will travel to Burkina Faso, and if they triumph over their main rivals for the group’s ticket, the Pharaohs will be in the FIFA World Cup finals for the fourth time.
Burkina Faso are the only other team in Group A to qualify directly or advance to the intercontinental playoffs, while Sierra Leone and – mathematically, Guinea-Bissau – can still make the playoffs, if each of them they keep winning.
In Group G, Algeria have dominated, losing one of seven games – interestingly at home against Guinea 1-2 on Matchday 3. Victories in the other six matches, including beating Botswana 3-1 in Tizi Wezzu, in north central Algeria last Thursday, means that the Desert Warriors will have a foot in the door if they avenge their home defeat on their trip to Guinea on Monday. Qualification will be confirmed if that happens, and Uganda also drop points at home to Somalia.
For Tunisia in Group H, it is quite straight: beat Equatorial Guinea away on Monday and land in the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals. That will leave Namibia and Liberia in the race for the playoffs.
In Group C where Nigeria is domicile, South Africa will claim the only automatic ticket if they overcome Nigeria in their home match on Tuesday. But that will also require Benin Republic’s failure to overcome hosts Lesotho.
In Group I, Ghana would have been a win to back-to-back FIFA World Cup finals but for Celestin Ecua’s 89th-minute equaliser in the shirt of hosts Chad, which denied the Black Stars maximum points. Ghana will have to try again when they host third placed Mali on Monday.
It’s a three-horse race in Group B featuring DR Congo, Senegal and Sudan for the sole ticket, while Cape Verde Islands, Cameroon and Libya are in contention in Group D, just as the trio of Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon and Burundi are the top sides in Group F sill nursing hope for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals.
