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2026 World Cup: Nigeria’s WC Qualification Hopes Hanging By A Thread Despite Victor Osimhen Heroics

by Devesh Jaganath

image 2026 World Cup: Nigeria’s WC Qualification Hopes Hanging By A Thread Despite Victor Osimhen Heroics
Nigeria’s talisman Victor Osimhen made a stunning return to the national team for their World Cup qualifiers this month by helping the Super Eagles secure four valuable points from their two matches over the last week, but their qualification for the tournament is still far from secure after suffering a late hammer blow against Nigeria on Tuesday night in Uyo.

Osimhen Stars In Bitter-Sweet Super Eagles’ Qualifiers Against Rwanda and Zimbabwe

After missing out on the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and failing to win any of their first four matches in the 2026 qualification cycle, Nigeria entered matchday five of this year’s qualifiers with only one goal: win their remaining matches at all costs!

In an effort to keep their World Cup hopes alive, Eric Chelle recalled Victor Osimhen to the national setup for their two qualification matches this month, and the Galatasaray forward once again showed why he is the difference-maker in this Super Eagles team. 

Last Friday, the 26-year-old was too good for the then-group leaders, Rwanda, as he gave his side the lead inside the first quarter of an hour before doubling his tally just before halftime to give the Super Eagles a two-goal cushion heading into the break. 

The 2-0 victory took Nigeria to six points and within striking distance of the top two teams in the group heading into a clutch game six against Zimbabwe in Uyo, where they were massively fancied to come away with another win by most of the best online betting sites

Osimhen struck first again, giving his side the lead against the Warriors, beating George Chigova with a diving header from Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina’s cross, which briefly took the Super Eagles to second place in the group.

That strike took Osimhen to 26 goals for his country - the second most of any Nigerian player!

However, Chelle’s side were far from convincing thereafter, as they saw a Knowledge Musona effort cannon off the crossbar before suffering a hammer blow in stoppage time, when Tawanda Chirewa managed to squeeze a shot past Stanley Nwabali to bring the scores level at the death. 

Check out all the matchday five results using our World Cup livescore tool right here on SportyTrader!

CAF 2026 WCQ: Group C Standings After Six Games

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Following the draw against Zimbabwe, Nigeria remained in fourth place in Group C with seven points in six games. South Africa, meanwhile, pulled five points clear at the top of the standings with a 2-0 victory over Benin, who are tied on eight points with second-placed Rwanda. 

Group C Standings

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
1South Africa6411105513
2Rwanda62224408
3Benin622267−18
4Nigeria61417617
5Lesotho613245−16
6Zimbabwe604259−44

With FIFA making the change to allow 10 African teams to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, the nine group winners automatically earn their spot in the competition, while the runners-up in each group enter a pool in which the four highest-ranked teams based on points will compete for the remaining spot in the main draw. 

As it stands, Gabon (15 points), Namibia (12 points), Mozambique (12 points) and Burkina Faso (11 points) occupy those four spots. Nigeria are still in with a shot of overtaking any of these teams, given that there are four games to go, but it will not be easy, as they still have to play Bafana Bafana and Benin, whom they were unable to beat in the earlier rounds. 

Ranking of runners-up

PosGroupTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
1FGabon6501126615
2HNamibia633082612
3GMozambique540196312
4ABurkina Faso6321137611
5IMadagascar631296310
6BDR Congo531152310
7DCameroon52309369
8CRwanda62224408
9ENiger42026426

There are still plenty of important matches to go during this international break, so be sure to check out our experts' World Cup qualifier predictions for more insights!

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