BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Just as it happened two decades ago, Nigeria’s World Cup hopes now rest in the hands of Rwanda. The Super Eagles must not only defeat Benin Republic in Uyo on Tuesday, the final match day of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying series, but also hope that Rwanda can hold or beat South Africa in their decisive encounter.

This situation mirrors the dramatic climax of the 2006 World Cup qualifying series, when Nigeria also depended on Rwanda to do them a favour.

On that fateful October 8 day, the Super Eagles crushed Zimbabwe 5–1 at the Abuja National Stadium, but in Kigali, where the team’s hopes rested, Angola snatched a late winner against the hosts.

That goal proved fatal for Nigeria’s campaign. Both Nigeria and Angola finished level on points, but the Angolans advanced to Germany 2006 on a superior head-to-head record — despite Nigeria’s better goal difference.

Now, twenty years later, history threatens to repeat itself. Once again, Rwanda stand between Nigeria and a World Cup ticket — this time with South Africa in place of Angola.

Nigerian fans will be hoping that, unlike in 2005, fortune finally smiles on the Super Eagles when the final whistle blows on Tuesday.

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Cape Verde qualified for the World Cup on Monday, beating Eswatini 3-0 in their last group match to top the standings ahead of Cameroon and complete a fairytale campaign.

The wind-swept West African archipelago overcame first-half nerves to win in Praia with second-half goals from Dailon Livramento, Willy Semedo and veteran Stopira and book a first-ever appearance at the finals.

They started two points ahead of Cameroon, whose eight previous World Cup finals appearances are the most by an African country. Cape Verde finished Group D on 23 points, four ahead of Cameroon, who were held at home to a goalless draw by Angola.

Cape Verde rarely played international football some 25 years ago but now head to next year’s finals in North America as one of the nine African representatives.

They join Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Ghana who have qualified already.

Livramento took advantage of Eswatini’s failure to clear to steer home the ball from close range three minutes into the second half while Semedo also had a tap-in for the second six minutes later.

Stopira, 37, had only come on as a late substitute as an acknowledgement of his long service with the team since 2008, and put a cherry on the cake with a stoppage-time goal.

The island’s 600,000 inhabitants had been given the day off to support their team but there was little to cheer in a tentative first half before Livramento scored. After that, the celebrations could not be contained.

Cape Verde are the second smallest country to qualify for the World Cup after Iceland, who competed in Russia in 2018.

Cameroon will likely advance to the playoffs for the four best runners-up across the nine African qualifying groups but were jeered off in Yaounde after failure to beat Angola whose 39-year-old goalkeeper Hugo Marques made several telling stops.

-Reuters

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Tunisia rounded off their World Cup qualifying campaign in emphatic fashion on Monday, defeating Namibia 3–0 in Tunis to finish top of Group H without conceding a single goal.

The Carthage Eagles, who had already booked their place at the finals, completed the qualifiers unbeaten with nine wins and one draw from 10 matches, scoring 22 goals in the process.

Ali El Abdi opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half before Hannibal Mejbri and captain Ferjani Sassi added two more after the break to seal Tunisia’s dominant finish.

Despite the defeat, Namibia held on to second place in the group, though their tally fell short of what was required to rank among the four best runners-up across all groups. They finished 13 points behind the relentless Tunisians.

Elsewhere in the group, Liberia secured third place after a 1–1 draw away to Equatorial Guinea. The hosts fielded a makeshift side under a new coach following last week’s player strike that saw them forfeit their match in Malawi.

In another fixture, Sao Tome e Principe celebrated a rare victory — their first in 18 matches — with a 1–0 triumph over Malawi. A 62nd-minute penalty converted by Portuguese-based striker Ronald Lumungo handed the island nation, ranked 195th in the world, their first points of the campaign.

Tunisia’s impressive defensive record and consistent form throughout the qualifiers reaffirm their status as one of Africa’s most reliable World Cup contenders.

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