Joel Ajayi
Super Eagles have been presented with an earlier opportunity to avenge their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying defeat to the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan last month, with both teams again paired in the same group in the race for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations that begins in two months’ time.
Their FIFA World Cup qualifying reverse fixture is not until the final day of the qualification series ( October 6 – 14, 2025), but both teams have much earlier battles to fight later this year as they aim to be among the 24 countries that will participate in the 35th Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for Morocco, December 21, 2025 – January 18, 2026.
At the draw ceremony conducted inside the SuperSport studio in Johannesburg, South Africa yeterday afternoon, the Super Eagles also drew the Amavubi of Rwanda another team in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying group, and which they next play in the series in March 2025 as well as the Mediterranean Knights of Libya. All four teams are in Group D.
The six-match qualifying series have been spread over the FIFA windows in September, October and November, with two matches in each seven-day window.
GROUP A: Tunisia, Madagascar, Comoros, The Gambia
GROUP B: Morocco, Gabon, Central African Republic, Lesotho
GROUP C: Egypt, Cape Verde, Mauritania, Botswana
GROUP D: Nigeria, Benin Republic, Libya, Rwanda
GROUP E: Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Liberia
GROUP F: Ghana, Angola, Sudan, Niger Republic
GROUP G: Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Chad
GROUP H: DR Congo, Guinea, Tanzania, Ethiopia
GROUP I: Mali, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Eswatini
GROUP J: Cameroon, Namibia, Kenya, Zimbabwe
GROUP K: South Africa, Uganda, Congo, South Sudan
GROUP L: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Burundi
