We’ll fight hard to qualify for World Cup, Eagles assure Nigerians

The Super Eagles of Nigeria have pledged “to fight hard till the end” to ensure the team qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

The team have been in uninspiring form through the opening stage of the World Cup qualification campaign.

The Eagles’ run of poor results has condemned them to fifth place in Group C of the qualifiers, with just three points from four games.

The latest disappointing performance was the 2-1 loss to the Benin Republic on Monday. The team had drawn its previous games against Lesotho, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Many Nigerians, particularly on social media, were critical of the Eagles and the team’s technical staff over the results.

John Enoh, minister of sports development, described the results as “unacceptable”.

He summoned the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to “give cause why there mustn’t be consequences for the disappointment caused both government and the generality of Nigerians”.

Reacting to the feedback, the Eagles, in a tweet on the team’s official X account, said they do not take the support of Nigerians for granted and have “resolved” to the “impossible.”

The players added they are also unhappy with the results and are ready to turn their fortunes around.

“We are back in the country and we are not happy about the way the two games panned out,” the tweet reads.

“We have had talks among ourselves and have resolved to fight hard till the end to ensure we do the impossible, which is qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. We don’t take your support for granted, we thank you immensely.”

The World Cup qualifiers will resume in March 2025, with Nigeria travelling to Rwanda before hosting Zimbabwe.

The team will then host the return leg of the Rwanda encounter before playing South Africa away in September 2025.

The Eagle will travel to Lesotho before welcoming the Benin Republic for the final game of the qualifiers in October 2025.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after losing to Ghana in the play-off.