African Football Discussion Thread Current Topic: 👉 AFCON 2025/2026

[Lida93]

l]
From the way DR Congo played in the World Cup qualifiers and the play off, and considering the fact that Nigeria and DR Congo's last two
meetings ended in a draw, so I agree with you that DR Congo will be the hardest game for Nigeria since they started their journey to qualify for the World Cup.

The playoff is always a difficult round in football especially when it has to do with qualifying for the World Cup, it's survival of the fittest and a game of chance, the DR Congo side can't be underrated at this point because they have already done something extraordinary by eliminating Cameroon from the playoffs and against Nigeria they would be very fierce but am banking on the Nigerian players to use their wealth of experience to defeat the Congolese.

Everyone is expecting Nigeria to win this game due to their experience in African football, but I see this game as a 50/50 game because if they can knock out Cameroon an African giant, then it's possible that they can do that to the nigerian national team if they are looked down on.
But if the Nigerian team can step up and show why they are an African giant, then I think that they will be too strong for Dr congo team.

Based on the last outing of the Super Eagles and the quality of display they put out against the Gabonese team, it is quite understandable that everyone would expect the Nigerian team to replicate same feat against Congo because the team is in high spirit and all the player understand what's at stake at the moment and are deeply committed to achieving this goal for the country .

[CryptSafe]

There was a short video posted by Iwobi showing the deplorable state of the hotel that lodged the super eagles.

You should pick up the habit of following up on the news, because if you actually did follow up, you would have seen the news that followed that the hotel the Super Eagles were lodged in was not a poor hotel, and the environment IWOBI posted was out of concern for how some people are living. 

I am not trying to support the NFF here, but I am just saying that we should be careful of the information we spread.

Obviously the kind of information that is been reported online these days are very disappointing to say. Most of them are not properly vetted before they are aired for credibility and reliability, they just put it up there just for traffic so they could  get more money. Majority of them are just simply copy paste they do and these are the types of people that likely disseminate wrong information to the public consumption. Just like what I am saying, this issue being mentioned  here is a typical of copy paste without verification. And that is the problem with most of these new journal.

[Odohu]

Everybody knows that the entire team played well and we all praised the entire team. But there is a "star" player in every football team, something like a "poster boy", there is nothing wrong in that. City have Haaland and he gets a lot of the praise, it does not mean their victory is not for the entire team. Real Madrid have Mbappe. Etc.

That said, we should not concern ourselves with things like this. Right now it is all about our game against Congo on Sunday, whoever gets their face on the "poster" does not matter. I can't wait for Sunday, and i am very optimistic about our chances of victory and qualifying for the playoffs.

I swear our fans need to understand that every football club has that "poster boy" in their club who can single-handedly change games, whose teammates turn to when the team is in trouble - that person for our national team right now is Osimhen, and we've had many others in the past, like Okocha, Kanu, Mikel, Emineke, Osaze, and Martins (in no particular order).  Osimhen is more than a team player right now; he is the team and the sole reason we are in the playoffs; I don't mind seeing him posted every day as long as we get the results

I never wanted to quote you but seeing that you gave a list of notable Super Eagles players, I'm forced to respond to your ommisssion of certain players who should be among our legends due to their contribution to the national teams. The notable among them are Victor Ikpeba who was a key player and former African best player. We also have Daniel Omokachi, one of the finest Nigerian play who you should mentioned instead of Martins. Nigeria have had wonderful players who have made the nation proud and it is something of joy to see that we have a collection of players that can make the country proud, Tomorrow our boys will humble the DR Cargo side to take us closer to the would cup qualification.

[Roseline492]

It’s been confirmed that Ndidi is eligible to play in the finals tomorrow. He’s one of our key players and I’d happy he will be on the pitch in the biggest match of the year. I think the manager should bench Ademola Lookman, he’s far from his best and we need players that are dependable for this game. What do you guys suggest for the lineup?

Lookman could be on his best on this final, don't persecute him yet, I no what you are saying about his performance is true but instead of benching him they should just keep him as a potential incoming player on the pitch while they put more effective person on his position so that when the player is getting tired or has played till 20 minutes or 10 minutes remaining to the end before they can bring him because with how exhausted his substitute will be at that time he will make a better use of those minutes more, although we are only saying it but the coach will definitely keep him to play either first half or second half. There lineup will be as usual but starting players is what that can change.

[Sir_Garry55]

There was a short video posted by Iwobi showing the deplorable state of the hotel that lodged the super eagles.

You should pick up the habit of following up on the news, because if you actually did follow up, you would have seen the news that followed that the hotel the Super Eagles were lodged in was not a poor hotel, and the environment IWOBI posted was out of concern for how some people are living. 

I am not trying to support the NFF here, but I am just saying that we should be careful of the information we spread.

Obviously the kind of information that is been reported online these days are very disappointing to say. Most of them are not properly vetted before they are aired for credibility and reliability, they just put it up there just for traffic so they could  get more money. Majority of them are just simply copy paste they do and these are the types of people that likely disseminate wrong information to the public consumption. Just like what I am saying, this issue being mentioned  here is a typical of copy paste without verification. And that is the problem with most of these new journal.

I believe this statement is a prove to most of online journalism, concerning irrational information and traffic that nearly looks unverified. What they aim to publish is unproductive information that was passed with no well define credibility, their only problem is just to get a traffic and more money. The prove of issues dealing with copy and past as been overwhelmed as what we see in media, news that look untrue, but if they may say who cares. Most informations that are basically passed are false, just for the purpose to create their profit and this is never the first time we have been seeing this, it has linger for some times.

Information should be correlated before being passed out to the reach of the public. And again there are some that looks true and certain, but the way it was presented was not proper to the public

[SatoPrincess]

It’s been confirmed that Ndidi is eligible to play in the finals tomorrow. He’s one of our key players and I’d happy he will be on the pitch in the biggest match of the year. I think the manager should bench Ademola Lookman, he’s far from his best and we need players that are dependable for this game. What do you guys suggest for the lineup?

Lookman could be on his best on this final, don't persecute him yet, I no what you are saying about his performance is true but instead of benching him they should just keep him as a potential incoming player on the pitch while they put more effective person on his position so that when the player is getting tired or has played till 20 minutes or 10 minutes remaining to the end before they can bring him because with how exhausted his substitute will be at that time he will make a better use of those minutes more, although we are only saying it but the coach will definitely keep him to play either first half or second half. There lineup will be as usual but starting players is what that can change.

I know I’m not a professional pundit but what’s the difference between benching a player and keeping the player as a “potential incoming player”? Nwabali also needs to be at his best, he’s a good goalie but sometimes loses focus. DR Congo is a tough opponent with a strong backline, we cannot afford any weaknesses.

[CryptSafe]

There was a short video posted by Iwobi showing the deplorable state of the hotel that lodged the super eagles.

You should pick up the habit of following up on the news, because if you actually did follow up, you would have seen the news that followed that the hotel the Super Eagles were lodged in was not a poor hotel, and the environment IWOBI posted was out of concern for how some people are living. 

I am not trying to support the NFF here, but I am just saying that we should be careful of the information we spread.

Obviously the kind of information that is been reported online these days are very disappointing to say. Most of them are not properly vetted before they are aired for credibility and reliability, they just put it up there just for traffic so they could  get more money. Majority of them are just simply copy paste they do and these are the types of people that likely disseminate wrong information to the public consumption. Just like what I am saying, this issue being mentioned  here is a typical of copy paste without verification. And that is the problem with most of these new journal.

I believe this statement is a prove to most of online journalism, concerning irrational information and traffic that nearly looks unverified. What they aim to publish is unproductive information that was passed with no well define credibility, their only problem is just to get a traffic and more money. The prove of issues dealing with copy and past as been overwhelmed as what we see in media, news that look untrue, but if they may say who cares. Most informations that are basically passed are false, just for the purpose to create their profit and this is never the first time we have been seeing this, it has linger for some times.

Information should be correlated before being passed out to the reach of the public. And again there are some that looks true and certain, but the way it was presented was not proper to the public

Most of the online journalists are self-oriented journalists with no track record and training; all they care about is building traffic to their website, and you and I know that fake news and rumors spread faster like wildfire fire so they basically concentrate on such to grow their views so they could have something to take home.  These are the type of people who basically do the copy and paste because they have no concrete information on what they are giving out, so what they do is just give it out like that since it is the trending news in town, so that their views would increase, thereby increasing their traffic to their website or page.

Any information properly vetted before being published is void of errors or would never cause any uproar i society. Have you not noticed that wrong information quickly spreads faster and has the tendency to cause or exacerbate problems in society than information that is properly vetted before being published?

[IjawMan]

I know I’m not a professional pundit but what’s the difference between benching a player and keeping the player as a “potential incoming player”? Nwabali also needs to be at his best, he’s a good goalie but sometimes loses focus. DR Congo is a tough opponent with a strong backline, we cannot afford any weaknesses.

we can make of a difference between keeping a player till the last minutes before bringing him in to the game as substitute, and benching him.

Bringing the player after the game has begun and later featuring him in the game makes the player part of the players that actively played in the match which a complete bencher will not make it as part of the players that featured in the match.

Onto the Nigerian Goal keeper Nwabali, he has been known for making unrequited mistakes which he made about two in the Congo and Nigeria match that ended 4-1 in Nigeria's victory. He has to be reminded that he is the last player to the goalpost and any error can be dangerous and can cost the team to lose.

[Fiatless]

I know I’m not a professional pundit but what’s the difference between benching a player and keeping the player as a “potential incoming player”? Nwabali also needs to be at his best, he’s a good goalie but sometimes loses focus. DR Congo is a tough opponent with a strong backline, we cannot afford any weaknesses.

There is no difference between these two concepts. In my view, Nwabali need to sit on the bench and let Okoye come in as the first choice.  Stanley has begun to show overconfidence and pride. He is either arguing with opponents or his teammates or making some costly mistakes. Okoye has more experience and plays in a better league.  Stanley needs to be aware that he is not our only choice.

[Jaycoinz]

I know I’m not a professional pundit but what’s the difference between benching a player and keeping the player as a “potential incoming player”? Nwabali also needs to be at his best, he’s a good goalie but sometimes loses focus. DR Congo is a tough opponent with a strong backline, we cannot afford any weaknesses.

There is no difference between these two concepts. In my view, Nwabali need to sit on the bench and let Okoye come in as the first choice.  Stanley has begun to show overconfidence and pride. He is either arguing with opponents or his teammates or making some costly mistakes. Okoye has more experience and plays in a better league.  Stanley needs to be aware that he is not our only choice.

Well if a player becomes too confident then the best option and move to take is to actually bench him and let him realize that there are other players in the team because one day the mistakes and error he commit will surely come around and haunt the team. The team already have a player who is equal to his capabilities if not even better but it seems the coach favors nwabali more and that's why the mistakes he makes haven't really gotten to the coach.

[Frankolala]

I know I’m not a professional pundit but what’s the difference between benching a player and keeping the player as a “potential incoming player”? Nwabali also needs to be at his best, he’s a good goalie but sometimes loses focus. DR Congo is a tough opponent with a strong backline, we cannot afford any weaknesses.

There is no difference between these two concepts. In my view, Nwabali need to sit on the bench and let Okoye come in as the first choice.  Stanley has begun to show overconfidence and pride. He is either arguing with opponents or his teammates or making some costly mistakes. Okoye has more experience and plays in a better league.  Stanley needs to be aware that he is not our only choice.

I agree with you because pride gives false confidence and befalls a man. Since he has started showing some signs of weakness, it's better Nwabali sits on the bench for Okoye to take over so that he will humble himself. Okoye is a good goalkeeper and should be given the chance to showcase his talent for the country.

[Agbam]

Benjamin Federick is less talked about, I want to give respect to those who respect should be given. This young, talented player has been a 10 in Nigeria's last two games. He is the player of the match today. This is a world-class player who needs to be noticed by top clubs.

Very soon clubs will be running after him by the end of the Wold Cup Qualify, very impressive player to look up to. I am very proud of whoever brought this gy to the Super Eagles team.

This boy won all of our hearts against Gabon. I never knew much about him but after that game I had to do a research on him, boy is a wonder kid, Eric Chelle did good by discovering him and inviting Akor Adams who has had an impressive start with the Super Eagles.

Ola aina definitely has a strong competition right now which is good for business not forgetting we also have Bright Osayi Samuel, wow that right back position is definitely on lockdown.

Hope to see the Super Eagles triumph tomorrow and another exceptional performance from our wonder kid.

[Adbitco]

Based on the last outing of the Super Eagles and the quality of display they put out against the Gabonese team, it is quite understandable that everyone would expect the Nigerian team to replicate same feat against Congo because the team is in high spirit and all the player understand what's at stake at the moment and are deeply committed to achieving this goal for the country .

Yeah, I was afraid of the game Vs Gabon and had earlier thought the Gabonese will give them tough time and possibly eliminate them. Gabon has had an incredible qualifier where they scored and won lots of matches and in the process gathered more than 20 points but were only edged out by the current ACON champions in their group. But in the match Vs Nigeria, I saw what the Super Eagles did and they surprised me by playing excellently well. Now they have eliminated the Gabonese and DEC succeeded in eliminating Cameroon which puts them in a place to play Nigeria. Right now Nigeria is favourite to emerge the team that will represent Africa in the confederations play offs coming up next year.

[SatoPrincess]

I know I’m not a professional pundit but what’s the difference between benching a player and keeping the player as a “potential incoming player”? Nwabali also needs to be at his best, he’s a good goalie but sometimes loses focus. DR Congo is a tough opponent with a strong backline, we cannot afford any weaknesses.

There is no difference between these two concepts. In my view, Nwabali need to sit on the bench and let Okoye come in as the first choice.  Stanley has begun to show overconfidence and pride. He is either arguing with opponents or his teammates or making some costly mistakes. Okoye has more experience and plays in a better league.  Stanley needs to be aware that he is not our only choice.

Pride they say comes before a fall. I remember the first time we saw the brilliance of Nwabali, we celebrated him like he was the best thing that ever happened to the Super Eagles. But If Nwabali keeps up this stupid attitude it’s going to cost him his spot as first choice goalie. Nigerian fans quickly forget the good days once you start underperforming, he needs to step up.

[KingsDen]

Benjamin Federick is less talked about, I want to give respect to those who respect should be given. This young, talented player has been a 10 in Nigeria's last two games. He is the player of the match today. This is a world-class player who needs to be noticed by top clubs.

Very soon clubs will be running after him by the end of the Wold Cup Qualify, very impressive player to look up to. I am very proud of whoever brought this gy to the Super Eagles team.

Benjamin Frederick is being talked about all over the social media, it is unfortunate that I did not watch the match between Nigeria and the country of Aubameyang, so I cannot precisely say his contribution but then the testimony of many people cannot be false. Besides that, I have also seen some snippets in social media (short videos), showing the heroic performance of the young talent and one thing with Nigeria is that we dominate the social media space, with this promotion and hype by us, he is definitely going to be located by big teams from January.

This is the kind of spirit and dedication the footballers of old put on when they wear the green and white shirt to represent Nigeria.

[Mr Reporter]

l]
From the way DR Congo played in the World Cup qualifiers and the play off, and considering the fact that Nigeria and DR Congo's last two
meetings ended in a draw, so I agree with you that DR Congo will be the hardest game for Nigeria since they started their journey to qualify for the World Cup.

The playoff is always a difficult round in football especially when it has to do with qualifying for the World Cup, it's survival of the fittest and a game of chance, the DR Congo side can't be underrated at this point because they have already done something extraordinary by eliminating Cameroon from the playoffs and against Nigeria they would be very fierce but am banking on the Nigerian players to use their wealth of experience to defeat the Congolese.

Everyone is expecting Nigeria to win this game due to their experience in African football, but I see this game as a 50/50 game because if they can knock out Cameroon an African giant, then it's possible that they can do that to the nigerian national team if they are looked down on.
But if the Nigerian team can step up and show why they are an African giant, then I think that they will be too strong for Dr congo team.

Based on the last outing of the Super Eagles and the quality of display they put out against the Gabonese team, it is quite understandable that everyone would expect the Nigerian team to replicate same feat against Congo because the team is in high spirit and all the player understand what's at stake at the moment and are deeply committed to achieving this goal for the country .

Yes this is absolutely correct, the Super Eagles are riding a wave after that 4‑1 demolition of Gabon extra‑time goals from Osimhen and Ejuke have everyone buzzing and the squad knows exactly what’s on the line , Coach Eric Chelle’s men are in high spirits, and with Wilfred Ndidi cleared to start after the yellow‑card saga, the midfield anchor is back to give them that extra bite .

[Zackz5000]

The Gabonese in terms of action on the field can't be compared to Cameroon and Dr Congo's, I have seen these respective teams play and among them all Dr Congo is who I fear and wasn't praying to meet against Nigeria but unfortunately, Cameron couldn't kick them out. It's definitely gonna be a tough game for Nigeria when they go against Dr Congo than what Gabon was like. The Congo players are fast, can attack and with a good defense. I think the Dr Congo game will be the hardest game for Nigeria in the playoffs.

From the way DR Congo played in the World Cup qualifiers and the play off, and considering the fact that Nigeria and DR Congo's last two
meetings ended in a draw, so I agree with you that DR Congo will be the hardest game for Nigeria since they started their journey to qualify for the World Cup.

The playoff is always a difficult round in football especially when it has to do with qualifying for the World Cup, it's survival of the fittest and a game of chance, the DR Congo side can't be underrated at this point because they have already done something extraordinary by eliminating Cameroon from the playoffs and against Nigeria they would be very fierce but am banking on the Nigerian players to use their wealth of experience to defeat the Congolese.

I don't think the Congolese can stop the Super Eagles not to qualify for next year world cup, Nigeria has gone too far to be stopped by the Congolese if this game is the only game that holds Nigeria to qualify for the world cup then we have qualify already because Nigeria will defeat the Congolese. Nigeria will not underrate them before they almost got kick off by underrating some countries they would have won with going for play off in their group stage games, I believe Victor Osimhem will qualify Nigeria to the world cup.

[Fiatless]

I agree with you because pride gives false confidence and befalls a man. Since he has started showing some signs of weakness, it's better Nwabali sits on the bench for Okoye to take over so that he will humble himself. Okoye is a good goalkeeper and should be given the chance to showcase his talent for the country.

Aubameyang was close to scoring a goal because of the carelessness of our goalkeeper. He needs to be counselled before the match tomorrow against Congo Democratic Republic. Nigerian fans wouldn't forgive him if he makes any mistake that cost the country the world cup ticket. Every single match now is important because any mistake will be disastrous.

Benjamin Federick is less talked about, I want to give respect to those who respect should be given. This young, talented player has been a 10 in Nigeria's last two games. He is the player of the match today. This is a world-class player who needs to be noticed by top clubs.

Very soon clubs will be running after him by the end of the Wold Cup Qualify, very impressive player to look up to. I am very proud of whoever brought this gy to the Super Eagles team.

The young lad is strong, confident and intelligent. You might think he is above 30 when you watch him play because of his exhibition of high experience.

[Adbitco]

I don't think the Congolese can stop the Super Eagles not to qualify for next year world cup, Nigeria has gone too far to be stopped by the Congolese if this game is the only game that holds Nigeria to qualify for the world cup then we have qualify already because Nigeria will defeat the Congolese. Nigeria will not underrate them before they almost got kick off by underrating some countries they would have won with going for play off in their group stage games, I believe Victor Osimhem will qualify Nigeria to the world cup.

Yeah, from the look of things the Nigerian national team wants to secure a ticket at the world cup for next year with the way they are playing right now. Initially it looked as thought they were not serious, when they played South Africa and drew in a match they were supposed to win, we criticised them a lot and after that very match, it's been win after win for them. Against Gabon they were incredible and leaving their opponent with little chance to hurt them while they were busy attacking them regularly. Now against DRC, they are the favourites but this is football and Nigeria shouldn't underestimate them simply because they are the favourites to win that match.

[Issa56]

Based on the last outing of the Super Eagles and the quality of display they put out against the Gabonese team, it is quite understandable that everyone would expect the Nigerian team to replicate same feat against Congo because the team is in high spirit and all the player understand what's at stake at the moment and are deeply committed to achieving this goal for the country .

Am expecting the super eagles to perform so well in their next match against D.R Congo, because they already know thats their last chance of qualifying for the World Cup, so they not going to play with matches like this. Super eagles have talented players, it’s just surprising that they don’t perform well when they are playing for their country compare with when they are playing for their clubs.

If the super eagles are so serious, then they should be able to win D.R Congo, the super eagles have a better squad than them, so I still have confidence in super eagles to win the match, I just I won’t be disappointed at the end.

Super eagles had the chance to easily qualify for the World Cup, but they were performing poorly in the group stage, they were losing and playing draw in matches which they were suppose to easily win, and now they are struggling to qualify to the World Cup.