It’s no longer news that the Nigeria Super Eagles team shot themselves on the foot right from the beginning of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, But with a glimpse of hope still dangling; here’s what the Team must do
Ever heard the saying “It’s not over until it’s over?” that should be the super eagles motto in the remaining matches of this 2026 World Cup Qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin Republic.
Keep the energy from last matches
We all know the Super eagles team has been very inconsistent of late especially in this World Cup Qualifying matches but one thing we can all agree on is that the performance and team spirit improved in the last matches against Rwanda (Won 1-0) and South Africa ( Drew 1-1)
Despite only settling for a draw in South Africa some will agree that we could have gotten a little bit more from that match but that’s football, right?
So the team needs to keep that Energy and drive and be ruthless in front of goal
Our Attack needs to rise to the occasion
In the last International break, we unfortunately lost our top striker Victor Osimhen to injury against Rwanda but Tolu Arokodare who has been impressive since his first call-up to the team rose to the occasion by scoring the only goal in that match
With the quality of Attacker Nigeria has both home and abroad you’ll think our opponents will be scared for those lives but that’s has not always been the case when Osimhen is not on the football pitch and that has to improve
Our Defence must be spotless
Despite the Captain William Troost-Ekong’s own goal against South Africa, you’ll argue that our defence has been quite solid with Calvin Bassey being the rock he is always and new boy Benjamin Frederick showing a very high level of composure and reliance at the back
However, Our Right back is where a bit of concern is, with first choice Ola Aina out with a long term injury against Rwanda during the last international break and his predecessor Bright Osayi-Samuel being replaced by Zaidu Sanusi due to his own fresh injuries just after being named in this new 23-man Squad that position will obviously be lacking quality
Our Midfield must evolve
It is unbelievable to say that Alex Iwobi is the only creative midfielder we can boast of, As a footballing nation with thousands of professional players that is simply not good enough
Our Midfield needs creativity, while Alex Iwobi is doing his best at that, we need more talent and personnel in that area of the team to push him and also replace him when he’s not in his game
Do our job and hope for the best miracle to happen
In as much as we want South Africa and Benin to lose their matches magically, we ourselves need to win our matches first, so come October 10th and 14th against Lesotho and Benin Republic respectively, the super eagles team must stick their neck out for the Nation and win both matches
When we manage to achieve that, Only then can we hate-watch South Africa and hope for the best for ourselves.
