Nigeria’s Super Eagles have found themselves in a relatively tricky group after the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying draws were done in Abidjan on Thursday.
The six-time World Cup participants were drawn against Gernot Rohr’s Benin Republic, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Lesotho in Group C of the nine-group round of qualifiers.
Nigeria, having missed out on the 2022 edition in Qatar, will begin their quest for a seventh World Cup appearance on the weekend of November 13 -16 and will face all other five teams in a round Robin format which will end in October 2025.
The group winner alongside the other eight group winners will qualify automatically for the Mundial in North America, while the four best-ranked group runners-up will participate in a playoff to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation playoffs.
Meanwhile, Nigeria, who have already qualified for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, will round up the AFCON qualification series in September before beginning their quest for another appearance at the World Cup.
FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 QUALIFYING DRAWS
Group A
EGYPT, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia & Djibouti
Group B
SENEGAL, DR Congo, Mauritania, Togo, Sudan & South Sudan
Group C
NIGERIA, South Africa, Benin Rep, Zimbabwe, Rwanda & Lesotho
Group D
CAMEROON, Cape Verde, Angola, Libya, Eswatini & Mauritius
Group E
MOROCCO, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, Niger & Eritrea
Group F
IVORY COAST, Gabon, Kenya, The Gambia, Burundi & Seychelles
Group G
ALGERIA, Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana & Somalia
Group H
TUNISIA, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Malawi, Liberia & Sao Tome
Group I
MALI, Ghana, Madagascar, Central African Republic, Comoros & Chad
