International Football
NIGERIA IN POT 2 OF CHAN DRAW
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria’s home based Super Eagles are in Pot 2 of the four-pot draw for the final of the competition holding in Morocco in January. The draw will be made at Sofitel Rabat in on Friday.
The seeding for the draw was made on Wednesday by the organising committee which put Nigeria along with Guinea, Zambia and Cameroon in the same pot.
Significantly, Zambia and Cameroon were in the same final qualifying group for Russia 2018 with Nigeria. The import of this is that the teams in the same pot will not fall into the same group for the competition.
The topmost seeded teams however are Morocco as the hosts along with Angola, Cote d’Ivoire and Libya. Results of the previous tournament shape the seeding.
The four Pots consisting of the 16 qualified teams were decided on the basis of a ranking established taking into account the performances at the past editions of the final tournament designed exclusively for footballers playing in their domestic leagues.
Pot 1: Morocco (host), Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Libya
Pot 2: Cameroon, Guinea, Nigeria, Zambia
Pot 3: Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan
Pot 4: Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Namibia
The Organising Committee also approved the calendar for the final tournament which will run from 13 January to 4 February 2018 in the following cities: Casablanca (Group A), Marrakech (Group B), Tangier (Group C) and Agadir (Group D).
The opening match and the final will be played at the newly refurbished Mohamed V Complex in Casablanca, which also hosted the second leg final of the Total CAF Champions League 2017.
In making the draw, Morocco as the host which heads the first level of the seeded teams will be designated automatically as A1. From the trio of Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Libya, the first to be drawn will go directly to position B1.
The next ball drawn will go directly to position C1 while the last will be in D1. After Pot 1, the next will be Pot 4 which has the quartet of Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania and Namibia.
The procedure will be the same as in Pot 1. The first to be drawn goes directly to position A4. The next will be B4 and so on till the last which will be D4.
Then come the level 3 seeded team comprising Congo, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda. As in the preceding procedure, the first ball drawn will go directly to position A3.The second will be B3, the next being C3 and the last takes the position of D3.
Nigeria and the other three teams of the level two seeding will be the last to be drawn. The first one to be picked will go directly to position A2, followed by B2, C2 and D2.
Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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Nigeria’s Super Eagles were held to a 2-2 draw by FIFA World Cup-bound Jordan in an eventful international friendly in Antalya on Tuesday night, with the contest overshadowed by a late red card to Alex Iwobi.
Iwobi, making his 98th appearance for the national team, was sent off in the closing stages, capping a dramatic encounter in which Nigeria surrendered a first-half lead and finished the game with ten men.
The match, played at the Mardan Sports Complex, brought Nigeria’s March international window to a close, but it proved anything but routine as both sides delivered a fiercely contested and entertaining clash.
Jordan, ranked 64th in the world and enjoying strong recent form, struck first in the 17th minute through Mousa Tamari. A well-worked free-kick routine caught the Nigerian defence napping, allowing the forward to fire home the opener.
Nigeria responded quickly and thought they had equalised six minutes later when Raphael Onyedika finished from a Moses Simon cut-back, but the goal was controversially ruled out.
The Super Eagles eventually drew level in the 30th minute. Stand-in captain Moses Simon, earning his 97th cap, reacted fastest after Ademola Lookman’s effort was blocked, slotting home with a composed left-footed finish for his second goal in as many matches.
Nigeria went ahead four minutes before halftime when Bright Osayi-Samuel’s pinpoint cross found debutant Emmanuel Fernandez, who showed great composure to control and finish, giving the three-time African champions a 2-1 lead at the interval.
The second half took on a more physical tone, with goalkeeper Francis Uzoho forced off in the 57th minute after sustaining an injury while clearing the ball. Adebayo Adeleye replaced him between the posts.
Head coach Eric Chelle introduced Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi to shore up the midfield, but Jordan continued to press and were rewarded with an equaliser in the 77th minute.
Nigeria pushed for a winner late on, handing a senior debut to Philip Otele, while Samuel Chukwueze came on for Moses Simon. However, the closing moments were marred by Iwobi’s dismissal, leaving the Super Eagles to see out the match with ten men.
Despite the draw, the encounter offered valuable insights for the coaching crew as Nigeria continues preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
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By Kunle Solaja
Match Context
- Fixture: Jordan vs Nigeria
- Venue: Antalya, Turkey
- Occasion: Four-Nation Invitational Tournament
- Kick-off: Tuesday (evening)
They would have loved facing Jamaica in Mexico today for a place at the World Cup, but fate has other plans, and Nigeria’s Super Eagles will be taking on World Cup debutants Jordan in a friendly match instead in Turkey.
The encounter promises to be a revealing contest for both sides as preparations intensify for future global assignments.
The encounter, staged as part of a four-nation tournament in Turkey, will be the third meeting between the two countries, with the head-to-head record finely poised.
History Beckons in Third Meeting
Nigeria claimed a 2-0 victory in their first clash at the National Stadium, Lagos, on 28 April 2004 during the LG Cup.
However, the tables turned in 2013 when a largely experimental Nigerian side under the late Stephen Keshi suffered a 1-0 defeat in Amman, courtesy of a Hatem Aqel penalty.
This latest meeting now serves as the decider in what has quietly become a balanced rivalry.
Jordan arrive in buoyant mood, riding on the crest of a historic achievement, which is their first-ever qualification for the FIFA World Cup (2026).
Jordan’s Al-Nashama
Their recent form underlines a team growing in confidence and tactical discipline. In the past months, Al-Nashama have:
- Held Russia (0-0)
- Defeated Dominican Republic (3-0)
- Drawn with Mali (0-0)
- Narrowly lost to Bolivia (1-0) and Albania (4-2)
- Pushed Tunisia (3-2 loss) in a competitive encounter
They also opened this invitational tournament with a 2-2 draw against Costa Rica, further evidence of their resilience.
The team’s preparations have been boosted by a morale-lifting visit from Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein, President of the Jordan Football Association, during their Antalya training camp.
Coach Jamal Al-Salami has deliberately scheduled matches against Nigeria and Costa Rica, citing their stylistic similarity to World Cup opponents such as Argentina, Austria, and Algeria.
Despite missing several key players, including star forward Mousa Ta’mari, Jordan have continued to show depth, blending senior players with youth prospects as part of a broader developmental strategy.
Nigeria head into the clash with renewed confidence after a 2-1 victory over Iran in their opening game of the tournament, with goals from Moses Simon and Akor Adams.
Unlike previous meetings, the Super Eagles are expected to field a full-strength squad, packed with Europe-based stars, something Jordanian observers have already described as a “heavyweight challenge.”
The squad boasts a blend of experience and attacking flair.
The presence of multiple attacking options gives Nigeria a clear edge going forward, while their physicality and pace could pose serious problems for the Jordanians.
Jordan are expected to adopt a compact, disciplined shape, relying on quick transitions and defensive organisation, qualities that earned them results against stronger opposition in recent friendlies.
Nigeria, by contrast, will likely dominate possession, using width and individual brilliance to break down Jordan’s defensive lines.
The key battle may lie in midfield, where Jordan’s structure will be tested against Nigeria’s blend of strength, technique, and tempo.
For Jordan, this is another step in fine-tuning a squad preparing for its historic World Cup debut—a chance to measure themselves against elite opposition.
For Nigeria, it is an opportunity to assert authority, build cohesion among its star-studded squad, and maintain momentum ahead of more competitive fixtures.
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