The 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup in the summer of 2026 will be the first ever to take place across three countries – it could also be the seventh finals that Nigeria participates in.
The Super Eagles are still hurting after failing to qualify in 2022 and they are set to resume their qualifying campaign in June after drawing their opening two games. Should they get through, then one of the most interesting tournaments in history will be waiting for them.
Can they do it? What should they expect once they get to North America? And just how far can they go?
World Cup 2026 – an overview
The trifecta of hosts means that venues are spread over almost 5,000 kilometers between Mexico City in the south to Vancouver in the north. Major destinations include the Metlife Stadium in New York, the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, and BC place in Toronto.
Some notable cities missing from the list are Chicago, Washington, and Las Vegas. The latter might be a blow for Nigerian fans wishing to take in the famous casinos, but they could also end up in Mexico which recently issued a ban on slot machines, excluding online slots. Either way, football is the most important thing, so there’ll be a party atmosphere wherever they go.
All three hosts, of course, have automatic berths and they’ll be joined by 45 other teams, the first time the competition has tried out its expanded format.
Nigeria are, of course, in the CAF qualifying section, from which they hope to be one of the 10 successful teams that make it to North America.
But just how likely is this?
Nigeria’s qualifying campaign
Out of the 10 qualifying African candidates, nine of them will be group winners, with one play-off winner joining them.
Nigeria, therefore, will be looking to win their group, Group C, to avoid the lottery of the play-offs and they have five teams standing in their way: Rwanda, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Benin and, their likely toughest opponents, South Africa.
That said, the South Africans received an early shock last November when they lost 2-0 to Rwanda in Butare. The result put Amavubi (The Wasps) top of the table after two games, while Nigeria lag two points behind after only managing to draw against Zimbabwe and Lesotho.
This makes their next fixture, at home vs South Africa, a gigantic fixture for The Super Eagles. The winners of it could go top with Rwanda facing a tricky game in Lesotho and put themselves in pole position for qualification.
The return fixture, South Africa vs Nigeria, may well decide the group when it takes place in September next year. In both games, the Super Eagles will have to be on their guard for Bafana Bafana’s dangermen Persy Tau and Teboho Mokoena, but they have plenty of attacking threat of their own in response.
Of the other group rivals, Lesotho, as mentioned, have started strongly, holding Nigeria to a draw in the opening round of fixtures, but pundits expect their lack of star quality to count against them as the group progresses.
Zimbabwe, meanwhile, won’t be pushovers with the likes of Premier League star Marvelous Nakamba and Ligue Un midfielder Tino Kadawere in their ranks.
Benin, too, have an attacking threat with Steve Mounié scoring a goal every three games for his country.
Winning the group will be a tough task, but Nigeria will fancy their chances, especially if Victor Omihsen and Kelechi Iheanacho start firing as they are expected to.
How far can they go?
A strong showing in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations means the Super Eagles are one of the continent’s best hopes of qualifying for the World Cup and getting out of the group stages.
This is still a tall order for Jose Peseiro’s boys, however. Nigeria have only qualified for the World Cup knockouts three times in their history and were beaten each time.
Yet there’s hope. A larger pool of teams makes advancing from the group easier, and a more winnable first knock-out game could be on the cards. This will put them into a Round of 16 that may also be easier than in the past, depending on which teams progress.
The Super Eagles will be pinning their hopes on their talented attacking line, but it would be foolish to overlook their defensive talent, including the likes of Ola Aina and Calvin Bassey.
Should everything click into gear, then a first-ever appearance in the last eight might be on the cards then after that, who knows?