THE Super Eagles of Nigeria have failed in their quest to secure an automatic ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup following their inability to finish as one of the winners of Africa’s nine qualifying groups.
However, Tuesday’s 4-0 victory over Benin Republic in Uyo — powered by Victor Osimhen’s hat-trick — earned them second place in Group C behind winners South Africa, and a spot in the first part of the play-offs.
Here is the circuitous route the three-time African champions have to negotiate successfully in order to reach the World Cup in the United States of America, Mexico and Canada next year…
AFRICAN PLAY-OFFS
As one of the best four runners-up in the nine Africa qualifying groups, the Super Eagles will be involved in the continental play-offs in Morocco in November along with Cameroon, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The format for the African play-offs is straight knockouts, with the teams facing off in the semi-finals and a final.
The match-ups for the semi-finals will be based on the FIFA rankings to be released on October 23, with the highest-ranked side taking on the lowest, and the second-highest playing the third-highest.
As things stand, the Super Eagles (ranked 44th in the world) are the highest-ranked team, followed by Cameroon (51st), DR Congo (61st) and Gabon (80th).
With no drastic changes expected in the FIFA ranking next week, the Super Eagles are scheduled to face Gabon in the play-offs semi-finals, while Cameroon battle DR Congo.
The winners of the semi-finals will play each other in the final for the sole ticket to the intercontinental play-offs.
INTERCONTINENTAL PLAY-OFFS
If the Super Eagles survive the African play-offs, they will proceed to face teams from other confederations in the intercontinental play-offs in Mexico in March.
The tournament will involve six teams – one each from Asia, Africa, South America and Oceania, as well as two from North and Central America.
Two teams will qualify from the intercontinental play-offs to complete the 48-team roster for the World Cup.
FORMAT
The bottom four teams according to FIFA ranking will be drawn into two straight knockout matches.
The winners of those matches will advance to play the top two FIFA-ranked teams in two single-elimination games, and the winners will qualify for the World Cup.