W'Cup qualification: Super Eagles draw against South Africa, Zimbabwe, Benin and two more

Nigeria's Super Eagles have been drawn in Group C alongside South Africa, Benin Republic, Rwanda, Lesotho and Zimbabwe for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. FIFA 2026.

The draw ceremony took place on Thursday in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

The West African team missed last year's World Cup in Qatar after losing to Ghana's Black Stars in the playoffs.

The Eagles' draw with West African neighbors Benin Republic will be the first against former coach Gernot Rohr since he was dismissed in 2021.

Nigeria will automatically qualify for the expanded World Cup which will be co-hosted by the United States of America, Mexico and Canada if they finish first in their group at the end of the group matches.< /p>

Meanwhile, the four best runners-up from the groups will compete in a CAF Play-Off tournament.

The winner of the CAF Play-Off Tournament will however play in the FIFA Play-off Tournament.

The first round of matches are scheduled to take place from November 13-21, but it's unclear when the Super Eagles will play their first game.

See the full print:

Group A: Egypt, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Djibouti

Group B: Senegal, DR Congo, Mauritania, Togo, Sudan, South Sudan

Group C: Nigeria, South Africa, Benin, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Lesotho

Group D: Cameroon, Cape Verde, Angola, Libya, Eswatini, Mauritius

Group E: Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, Niger, Eritrea

Group F: Ivory Coast, Gabon, Kenya, Gambia, Burundi, Seychelles

Group G: Algeria, Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana, Somalia

Group H: Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Malawi, Liberia, São Tomé and Príncipe

Group I: Mali, Ghana, Madagascar, Central African Republic, Comoros, Chad

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