A storied campaign in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) comes to a thrilling finale on Sunday, May 24, 2026 with a few more things still to be decided going into the final round of the season.
The 2025/2026 campaign has created storylines for the ages in quite uncharacteristic proportions. It all ends on Sunday afternoon though with two trophies expected to be sent out to Lagos and Port Harcourt – two iconic Nigerian cities.
Two of the last four NPFL winners – Rangers International and Rivers United – are battling to have the final laugh on Sunday evening. The title race ebbed and flowed in the past ten match days, like the loud pealing of an old fashioned church bell that woke up farmers and worshippers to their responsibilities.
Rangers head coach Fidelis Ilechukwu is not new to a title challenge. The last time the winner of the NPFL was decided on the final match day was in 2017 when Plateau United won it in Jos. That year, Ilechukwu had led an unheralded group of professional football toddlers at MFM FC to push United all the way.
Ilechukwu will however mount a spirited comeback to win the title two years ago, beating Remo Stars to the title. In 2026, his Rangers side hold a one-point advantage over fierce competitor Rivers United going into the final day of the season.
Standing between Ilechukwu and his second league title is Super Eagles legend Finidi George who himself is gunning for his second league crown as a coach, but his first with Rivers United, winners of the league in the last Word Cup year. Finidi already has a league winning medal in his glorious collection of football laurels but this will mean far more than gold to him.
Apart from the title definition, there are also still two more undesirable spots to be filled in relegation matters while Rangers’ opponents on Sunday, Ikorodu City also have a game of their lives to play as they bid to qualify for continental football for the first time in their young history.
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In all, there are ten matches to end the league on Sunday but there are four games in which all eight teams involved cannot afford to lose. Here they are and why:
Ikorodu City (4) vs Rangers Int’l (1)
Ikorodu City are barely four years old but the modest Lagos side can now feel continental football within a touching distance. A $100,000 preparation bonus from CAF for next year’s competition is even enough as incentive for Bright Ozebagbe’s side to want to risk it all. Although they must do it without influential captain Tosin Oyedokun and goalkeeper Michael Atata, due to national team call up.
Rangers’ Mission Nine has rented the Enugu airwaves in the past couple of weeks and although they have a cheekily familiar good record in Lagos and against Ikorodu City especially, they must go all out for the win (as a point may not even be enough) against an equally motivated side, this time without consistent full backs Chibueze Oputa and Kenneth Igboke who are away with the national team.
Niger Tornadoes (18) vs Shooting Stars (3)
Tornadoes are 18th on the log going into the final day, but their task is so straightforward on paper that a win over Shooting Stars can guarantee them another season in Nigeria’s top flight. How easy or difficult that is, is a different case.
Majin Mohammed’s side face a Shooting Stars team needing an outright win despite having a two-point cushion over Ikorodu City. With an inferior goals difference to Ikorodu, a draw may not be enough for Nurudeen Aweroro’s side should Ikorodu City win against Rangers at the Onikan Stadium.
Plateau United (12) vs Kano Pillars (10)
United’s home game against 2014 champions Kano Pillars has an unbelievable relegation six-pointer tag on it. Two teams that normally should compete for the NPFL title now have their safety hopes pinned on the last game of the season.
Now, Plateau United have locked the gates for the game, making it a fitting “Hell in a Cell” contest (my WWE audience should resonate to this) that has huge ramifications on who stays up at the end of the 90 minutes.
A draw will be damaging for the hosts while a loss will be devastating for the visitors. Go hard or go home has never been this metaphorised like it is in this setting.
Enyimba (14) vs El-Kanemi Warriors (13)
Apart from the already relegated Bayelsa United and Wikki Tourists, it looks pretty certain that another relegation spot will be taken from this venue, the Enyimba International Stadium by the end of hostilities on Sunday evening.
Enyimba have unravelled badly this campaign. They have changed coaches, Sporting Directors, and even fans at times but current coach Emmanuel Deutsch has one final game to help the People’s Elephant retain their dignity among Nigeria’s footballing elites.
For El-Kanemi, their atrocious goals difference means that even a draw may not be enough to guarantee their safety in the event that Remo Stars win in Benin. So, it is win or bust for Kabiru Dogo and his long-distance travellers.
Other fixtures
Bayelsa United vs Kwara United
Bendel Insurance vs Remo Stars
Rivers United vs Katsina United
Kun Khalifat vs Wikki Tourists
Warri Wolves vs Abia Warriors
Barau FC vs Nasarawa United
FINAL NOTES
It is only apt that intricacies which have played long through the second stanza of this season find an appropriate way to wrap things up for us on Sunday evening.
The tensions and palpitations among Rangers International and Rivers United fans and stakeholders are so strong that they can be literally felt by even the least conscious human whereas, the neutral could not have asked for a better finale.
Down the table, it is noteworthy that both teams occupying the last relegation spots can escape at the end of Sunday while a team as high up as 10th on the log can be relegated, realistically. That is why it is the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) and that is why we love it.
