The Super Eagles of Nigeria have been drawn in Group C alongside South Africa, Benin Republic, Rwanda, Lesotho and Zimbabwe in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers on Thursday evening in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The three-time African Champions will renew their rivalry against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa.
The Eagles will also face off with West-African neighbours Benin Republic, setting up an interesting meeting with former manager, Gernot Rohr who was the longest-serving Nigeria coach.
Nigeria, who missed out on the previous World Cup in Qatar, losing in the playoffs to Ghana, now have a chance to qualify automatically for the expanded World Cup which will be co-hosted by the USA, Mexico and Canada. To achieve this, all they need do is ensure they emerge group winners.
The new adopted format by CAF will see the four best runners-up from the group stage play in a CAF Play-Off tournament, with eventual winner playing in an inter-confederation play-off to claim a ticket to the Mundial.
The first round games of the qualifiers will begin on November 2023 and end in October 2025.
