World Cup
Our World Cup race has just begun, says Ekong
Sitting quietly at one corner of the departure hall of the Kigali International Airport on Saturday morning, Super Eagles’ captain William Ekong had a relaxed mien about him and minced no words in saying that Friday’s victory over Rwanda’s Amavubi was just the statement the Eagles needed to put out as the World Cup race reached halfway mark.
“It was important to make the statement that we did, and we’re all happy about it, and the way we did it.
Of course, we have not qualified and there’s still a lot of work, but we have started the recovery in a good way and we just have to keep working hard.
“I don’t want to go into the circumstances that made the first four matches go the way they went. The good thing is we can still recover and revive the campaign, and we have done that.”
Ekong’s firm leadership, and Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Simon Moses’ zest at the fore, were all too evident and impactful as the Eagles coasted to a 2-0 win over hosts Rwanda at the Amahoro Stadium, throwing up nostalgia of the strong squad that wowed all and came within 23 minutes of lifting the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire early last year.
As the chartered ValueJet Airline’s CRJ-900 aircraft touched down at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo at 2 pm on Saturday, Ekong told thenff.com that he would be rallying the troops ahead of Tuesday’s Day 6 encounter against the Warriors of Zimbabwe.
“We read somewhere that the Zimbabweans are being motivated to come to Uyo and get a result.
“They should forget it. We are hugely motivated by the ambition to play at the FIFA World Cup. Apart from myself, Alex (Iwobi) and perhaps a couple of others, who were part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, this generation is hungry to play at the highest level.
“We want to make Nigeria proud and at the same time, do ourselves proud.”
Victor Osimhen, whose brace unscrambled the calculations of the Amavubi and made them disappoint the capacity crowd that included President Paul Kagame, said at the Victor Attah Airport: “We are ready. The remaining matches are wars and we must fight them with all that we have to win.”
Victory on Tuesday evening will take Nigeria to nine points, and in firm contention for the ticket, especially if Benin Republic and South Africa cancel themselves out inside Abidjan’s Stade Félix Houphouet-Boigny.
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The road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup—jointly hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico—continues across Africa as national teams gear up for Matchday 6 of the qualifiers.
As the race intensifies, several continental giants will aim to consolidate their leads in the standings, while others hope to revive their qualification hopes in a fiercely competitive campaign spread over nine groups.
Below is the full list of Matchday 6 fixtures, along with kick-off times in GMT and group allocations:
Sunday, 23 March 2025
Group D
13:00: Eswatini vs Mauritius
Group F
13:00: Kenya vs Gabon
Group H
13:00: Namibia vs Equatorial Guinea
Monday, 24 March 2025
Group I
16:00: Central African Republic vs Mali
Group A
16:00: Guinea-Bissau vs Burkina Faso
Group H
16:00: Liberia vs Sao Tome and Principe
Group F
19:00: Ivory Coast vs Gambia
Group I
19:00: Madagascar vs Ghana
Group A
21:00: Ethiopia vs Djibouti
Group H
21:00: Tunisia vs Malawi
Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Group H
13:00: Botswana vs Somalia
Group D
16:00: Angola vs Cape Verde
Group C
16:00: Benin vs South Africa
Group C
16:00: Nigeria vs Zimbabwe
Group C
16:00: Rwanda vs Lesotho
Group G
16:00: Uganda vs Guinea
Group F
19:00: Burundi vs Seychelles
Group D
19:00: Cameroon vs Libya
Group A
19:00: Egypt vs Sierra Leone
Group K
19:00: Sudan vs South Sudan
Group G
21:00: Algeria vs Mozambique
Group I
21:00: Comoros vs Chad
Group C
21:00: Mauritania vs DR Congo
Group L
21:00: Senegal vs Togo
Group E
21:30: Morocco vs Tanzania
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Super Eagles’ next World Cup qualifying opponents, the Warriors of Zimbabwe have arrived in Nigeria for Tuesday’s match in Uyo.
The team arrived in Lagos on Friday and, according to the Zimbabwe newspaper, Herald, the team departed for Uyo on Saturday.
Zimbabwe, who are bottom of the six-team Group C with only three points in five games played a 2-2 draw against Benin at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa, on Thursday.
According to the Herald, the Warriors will be out to try and salvage their faltering campaign against a Nigerian team which took their points tally to six after beating Rwanda 2-0 on Friday.
The Warriors will have recovery training late in the day before they move into tactical sessions on Sunday.
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World Cup
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Nigeria’s journey to FIFA World Cup 2026 has been far from smooth. With their hopes of automatic qualification hanging in the balance, every game matters more than ever – and the Super Eagles’ next challenge is a must-win clash against Zimbabwe in Uyo on Tuesday.
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Nigeria might be under pressure, but history is firmly on their side.
The Super Eagles have faced Zimbabwe eight times and have only ever lost once – all the way back in 1981. We’ve been beaten by the Warriors on home soil, racking up an 8-1 aggregate score across three matches.
It’s a fixture that has traditionally gone Nigeria’s way, and with the likes of Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman expected to start, there’s every reason to believe the Super Eagles can deliver a much-needed win.
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