The Super Eagles have been presented with an earlier opportunity to avenge their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying defeat to the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan in June.
This followed the pairing of both teams again in the same group in the race for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, which begins in two months’ time. Their FIFA World Cup qualifying reverse fixture is not until the final day of the qualification series, Oct. 6–14, 2025.
Both teams have much earlier battles to fight later this year, as they aim to be among the 24 countries that will participate in the Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for Morocco from December 21, 2025, to Jan. 18, 2026. At the draw ceremony conducted inside the SuperSport studio in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday, the Super Eagles also drew the Amavubi of Rwanda, another team in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying group.
Eagles will next play Rwanda in the series in March 2025, as well as the Mediterranean Knights of Libya. All four teams are in Group D. The six-match qualifying series have been spread over the FIFA windows in September, October and November, with two matches in each seven-day window.
Group A: Tunisia, Madagascar, Comoros, and The Gambia
Group B: Morocco, Gabon, Central African Republic, and Lesotho
Group C: Egypt, Cape Verde, Mauritania, and Botswana
Group D: Nigeria, Benin Republic, Libya, Rwanda
Group E: Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, and Liberia
Group F: Ghana, Angola, Sudan, and the Niger Republic
Group G: Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Sierra Leone, and Chad
Group H: DR Congo, Guinea, Tanzania, Ethiopia
Group I: Mali, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and Eswatini
Group J: Cameroon, Namibia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe
Group K: South Africa, Uganda, Congo, and South Sudan
Group L: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Burundi.
