A former striker in the Super Eagles, Benedict Akwuegbu has expressed optimism that the Nigerian national team can still qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Sports247 reports.
Although he admitted that the Eagles are in a very tight spot, as they lie seven points behind top placed South Africa and fourth on the log with just two matches left to play, Akwuegbu insists all hope is not lost.
However, the Scotland ’89 FIFA U17 World Cup revelation conceded that an automatic qualification ticket is now beyond the Eagles, and reasoned that they will have to take the long route of the play-offs for the best four second placed countries.
Akwuegbu enthused, “I’m optimistic that we can still make it. We can get second place and scale through the play-off to qualify.”
He then turned his attention on reasons behind the Eagles’ struggles, but opined that the team’s woes started many years ago and stressed that the current leadership of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) should not be blamed for the country’s current sordid qualification quest.
Akwuegbu posited, “Everybody should not be pointing fingers at the NFF. They should instead think of what happened six years back.
“You have to think of history and ask why the team is where it is today. The current NFF people are trying to fix things. So, let’s see how it goes. But I’m still optimistic that we can make it to next year’s World Cup.”
Sports247 adds that Nigeria’s hopes of qualification continue hanging by the balance, as they must win away to Lesotho and defeat the current second placed Benin Republic in order to get any chance of picking a play-off spot next month.
Though Nigerians continue praying for FIFA to deduct South Africa three points, Bafana Bafana could still clinch top spot in the group by winning their last two matches – at home against Rwanda and ‘away’ to Zimbabwe on their own home soil.
