THE Super Eagles have arrived in Abijdan, Cote d’Ivoire for the must-win 2026 World Cup qualifier against Benin Republic, who are handled by former Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr.
The match, scheduled for tomorrow, is being held at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abijdan because the stadiums in Benin Republic were not cleared by FIFA and the Confederation of African Football to host the World Cup qualifying matches.
The Super Eagles left Uyo for Abidjan just before noon today via a chartered aircraft and arrived about two hours later for the win-or-bust encounter.
The three-time African champions have to beat Benin Republic in order to get their qualifying campaign back on track after a dismal start.
The Super Eagles are currently fifth in the six-team African qualifying Group C with just three points from their first three matches, with only the group winners guaranteed of a ticket to the World Cup scheduled for the United States of America, Mexico and Canada in two years.
The group is led by Lesotho with five points, while Rwanda, South Africa and Benin Republic all have four points each. Zimbabwe are bottom with two points.
The Super Eagles must defeat their neighbours tomorrow (kick-off 5pm Nigerian time) or the ‘giants of Africa’ would be staring at a second consecutive World Cup absence after they fell in the play-offs to Ghana for the Qatar 2022 tournament.
Incidentally, the Super Eagles have drawn all their three matches in the series 1-1: at home to Lesotho and South Africa, and away to Zimbabwe in what was a neutral ground in Rwanda.
Indeed, the Nigerian side have had to come back in all three matches after conceding first each time.
Finidi George, who oversaw the 1-1 draw against South Africa on Friday night in Uyo in his first competitive match in charge, is under pressure to get the Super Eagles firing again.
Jose Peseiro was the Super Eagles head coach for the draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe in November.
