All attention will be in Kigali, Rwanda, today as the Super Eagles seek to revive their fading 2026 World Cup qualification hope.
Also, the Malian coach of the team, Eric Chelle, will hope to start strong as the coach of the former African champions, as he marks his first match following his appointment over three months ago.
Precariously sitting second from the rear in Group C of the qualifiers, the Super Eagles will enter today’s match against the Wasps with strong intent on reviving their qualification hopes, even as they trail the joint leaders — Rwanda, South Africa and Benin Republic — by four points. This makes today’s match a must-win for the three times African champions who cannot afford further slip on the table.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Super Eagles have a poorer head to head with the Wasps as they have been winless in their last three encounters with today’s hosts, with a 2-1 home defeat in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match in November, 2024, the low point for the former African champions against the East African nation. However, analysts believe the Head-To-Head record will only galvanise the home team to come out massively today against their obviously better and more studious opponents.
However, despite their poorer head to head, the Super Eagles must go all the way today to secure their first win in the East African country if they hope to start what has been termed a six-game ‘final’ which would guarantee them a place in the Mundial taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year.
This is where Chelle must draw from his wealth of experience as a lot is expected of his team. Nigeria has never missed consecutive World Cup finals since their 1994 debut in the United States, qualifying in 2010 after narrowly missing out four years earlier.
However, this present squad, which features the continent’s best players over the past two years — Victor Osimhen (2023) and Ademola Lookman (2024) — must avoid a negative history of missing out on two consecutive World Cups.
Speaking ahead of today’s match, Coach Chelle admitted the high expectations with emphasis on winning the match.
“I just want to be with my players. I want them to focus on this game, and after that, we’ll think about the others. We need to win this game,” he stated.
On their own, Rwanda will dare to dream after four games in qualifying, as the Amavubi sit joint top with South Africa and Benin on seven points heading into today’s match against the African giants.
Despite suffering a 1-0 loss to Benin last June, the Wasps responded with a narrow victory away to Lesotho, placing them in a promising position ahead of the first of two home fixtures.