Nigeria’s World Cup qualification hangs on the balance as Super Eagles fail to beat Benin Republic

The poor performance of the Super Eagles towards qualification for the 2026 World Cup continued on Monday evening when the Coach Finidi George tutored side fail 1-2 to Group C leaders Benin Republic.

The match coming three days after the team came from a goal down to share points with Bafana Bafana of South Africa in Uyo saw the Eagles being a shadow of themselves against a more determined Cheetahs handled by Gernot Rohr who are playing their home matches in Abidjan following CAF refusal to approve their home ground for their matches.

It was Nigeria that drew the first blood when Raphael Onyedika scored a fantastic goal in the 27th minutes but Benin drew level eight minutes before the end of first half.

On resumption of the second half, Steve Moume put the Cheetahs in front after a fine corner kick in the 47th minutes to ensure they grab the three points at stake, making it only the second time in history that Benin Republic will beat Nigeria.

With this result, the Super Eagles have failed to win any of their four world cup qualifiers and now sit 5th with 3 points in Group C while Benin Republic is occupying the first position with 7 points followed by Lesotto with 6 points while Rwanda and South Africa have 4 points each with Zimbabwe occupying the last position with 2 points