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

[Stepstowealth]

Nigeria yesterday didn’t have a good game I must confess, after having their 2 goals lead, you can see how relaxed they became on the pitch and conceived some cheap goals out of a cheap mistake. They were lucky to have escaped with all 3 points else, Lesotho would have found their way back in.

Nwabali made a lot of errors, errors that would have cost us the game. We were lucky to have gotten the second goal and be able to secure it. Our performance was not very impressive, it is very sad that we are still struggling to qualify when so many teams have made qualification already. I doubt the ability of this coach even if we are able to make it to the world cup that he will be able to take Nigeria through the group stages of the World Cup. It is a painful thing and will be a shame if we are unable to qualify for the world cup with this quality of players that we have.

[Ronsbit]

Xxxxxxxccxx. I doubt the ability of this coach even if we are able to make it to the world cup that he will be able to take Nigeria through the group stages of the World Cup. It is a painful thing and will be a shame if we are unable to qualify for the world cup with this quality of players that we have.

 I also doubt this coach ability to perform well at the world cup if the super eagles finally qualifies. I have been wondering this for long and to be frank I have also asked myself this question, the team has well recognised international stars playing for big European teams and are doing perfectly well so what is happening here at the national team. Is it the coach lapses or what because the performance of the players is a reflection of the coach input so what he has is what he is offering and it is not enough to boost the moral of the team. Meaning he is likely not competent enough to take the players to world cup looking at their performances from the beginning of this qualifiers match till the end of it.

[Finebone]

I also doubt this coach ability to perform well at the world cup if the super eagles finally qualifies. I have been wondering this for long and to be frank I have also asked myself this question, the team has well recognised international stars playing for big European teams and are doing perfectly well so what is happening here at the national team. Is it the coach lapses or what because the performance of the players is a reflection of the coach input so what he has is what he is offering and it is not enough to boost the moral of the team. Meaning he is likely not competent enough to take the players to world cup looking at their performances from the beginning of this qualifiers match till the end of it.

It would be unfair putting all the blame on this our current coach because in my own opinion,  if our first two coaches that were sacked did what this coach did, I mean get the numbers of points this coach has gotten since he took over, we wouldn't have been in a sorry state like this.
Or are you trying to say that finidi was a good coach? No
He was the biggest mistake our nff has ever made by hiring someone as incompetent as him, and sorry for saying this, we might pay for it by not qualifying for next year fifa world cup if luck is not on our side, because as it stands now, our destiny is no longer in our hands, but we must beat this benin to team three nil to stands a chance to qualify which is very very unlikely.

[Agbamoni]

Nwabali made a lot of errors, errors that would have cost us the game. We were lucky to have gotten the second goal and be able to secure it. Our performance was not very impressive, it is very sad that we are still struggling to qualify when so many teams have made qualification already. I doubt the ability of this coach even if we are able to make it to the world cup that he will be able to take Nigeria through the group stages of the World Cup. It is a painful thing and will be a shame if we are unable to qualify for the world cup with this quality of players that we have.

Nwabali has been doing this right from the game against Rwanda. I am not happy with his performance, so i wish he can change and play better. The most annoying thing is that he is letting pride get into him.

You need to wake up to see the coach isn't the problem. He has a listening ear. Now he dont play any player as his favorite anyone can be subbed. Look how he subbed tolu and played Akor along side Osimehn.

[Lida93]

Snip

. Nigeria still got a shot at the world cup but will need Rwanda to do them a favour by winning South Africa even if it's 1 - 0 and they themselves have to beat Benin Republic at least 3 - 0, Nigeria and permutations, lol. I know some persons wouldn't understand why I said, Nigeria and permutations when it comes to qualifiers.

Obviously that's where we stand now with our destiny to the 2026 World Cup hanging in the hands of Rwanda. It's gonna take a lot of for South Africa not to win Rwanda considering what's at stake for them. And on the one hand what if South Africa and Nigeria both loses their games, what would be their fate. I think it still leaves South Africa on a better position to qualify.

Omoor no be small permutations 

[Sexylizzy2813]

Our only chance of qualification is winning Benin with three or more goals, it doesn't end there. South Africa also have to lose or draw against Rwanda. The odds are likely not even for Nigeria, we won today which was exactly what we needed in the other games that we drew. The Super Eagles made a good start today, there was no need for the late goal from Lesotho, we should have finished the match without conceding.

The pressure will be on Benin, Nigeria and South Africa on the last day because if Nigeria gets an information that SA are leading meanwhile they're playing a draw against Benin then you'd see that desperation from the Super Eagles and same goes to the SA should Incase they hears we're winning. This is a situation I never wanted the Eagles to find themselves because it will spoil how good they want to play and the draw South Africa had against Zimbabwe on Friday gave Nigeria a little hope to see themselves fighting for the top spot and if the Super Eagles fails to win and South Africa mistakenly plays a draw then it is done, it will only be Benin and South Africa that's making way to the world cup with Benin finishing second for the play off and Nigeria will not see themselves playing the World Cup and it will be bad to see the young players who haven't played in the World Cup before to miss out on this very one.

[Smartvirus]

Nwabali made a lot of errors, errors that would have cost us the game. We were lucky to have gotten the second goal and be able to secure it. Our performance was not very impressive, it is very sad that we are still struggling to qualify when so many teams have made qualification already.

Nwabali was full of it, errors. It wasn’t skill or good performance that kept Nigeria in the game, it was share luck that’s all. You can imagine Nwabali on 2 occasions, pushing the ball right into the paths of the Lesotho players. The lack of proper communication got his defender in the way and he couldn’t get his permutations right so, rather than punching the ball, he just managers to get hands on it and it cost us the first goal. In no distant time and the final seconds, he almost repeated the same mistake at the very last minute and that would have been the last of it.

[Uhwuchukwu53]

I hope the Super Eagles of Nigeria will sustain the latest trend set by Nigerians in the area of sports in general. Now Nigeria is dominating in female sports, football and basket ball have all been won by Nigeria and other sports will follow. We need to revamp the male sports especially football because we have the quality of players to do that. Vincent Nwabali, Victor Osimhen,  Lukeman Ademola, Ekong and many other players of the Super Eagles are in their prime, nothing stop us from dominating.

All of these are facts about our male players just as the women wings are doing extremely well, but the question about the male wings with the kind of quality they possessed internationally and their good performance in their club outside still gives citizens heart break when they happen to give us the required hope as they perform outside, because citizens expectations are always cut short , because it has always been an issues of narrow escape while struggling to qualify in any competition, I think the male players really need to work hard as a team by emulating the female wings, though many may say that the nation is not worth dying for but any names make still have gold carving of those who make it possible, in the past when our male players where performing extremely well example Okocha even many children who never witness his performance can still tell the story with pride of been a citizen, in my opinion what ever might be the course of them not giving as expected should be erase and forge ahead to make the nation more proud like the women.

[Barikui1]

Obviously that's where we stand now with our destiny to the 2026 World Cup hanging in the hands of Rwanda. It's gonna take a lot of for South Africa not to win Rwanda considering what's at stake for them. And on the one hand what if South Africa and Nigeria both loses their games, what would be their fate. I think it still leaves South Africa on a better position to qualify.

Omoor no be small permutations 

Why are we used to calculator anytime we are  playing world cup qualifying games?
Omen, am sick and tired of this shit, our super eagles has become the arsenal on the national team level since they never fails in breaking our heart when much expectation is on them.
I just think that our hopes of qualifying for next year fifa world cup is over because the south Africans will surely win Rwanda convincely and our super eagles team will not be able to beat Benin republic talkless of scoring them three unreply goals, so I would advice that we shouldn't put our hopes high because it's over.
Let them prepare for next one, because this current one is gone.

[fuguebtc]

I just think that our hopes of qualifying for next year fifa world cup is over because the south Africans will surely win Rwanda convincely and our super eagles team will not be able to beat Benin republic talkless of scoring them three unreply goals, so I would advice that we shouldn't put our hopes high because it's over.

I guess Nigeria and South Africa would qualify for the World Cup from Group C. But Benin occupied the top spot of the table with 5 points. Benin won in 5 matches in 5 matches. We can see the nice performance from the team. If Nigeria can defeat Benin by a big margin, Nigeria is likely to be at the top 2 in the table.

It was unexpected that South Africa would fail to score points against zimbabwe. I am sure a lot of gamblers like me have lost points in this match. Zimbabwe's defense failed to break even after a lot of efforts  by South africa. South Africa will play against Rawanda in the last match. It is expected that we will see South africa's victory  in this match.

But if Benin qualifies for the World Cup, it will be a surprising thing. But the team has the ability to qualify. We have seen the hard work of Benin's players.

[Fiatless]

Nwabali was full of it, errors. It wasn’t skill or good performance that kept Nigeria in the game, it was share luck that’s all. You can imagine Nwabali on 2 occasions, pushing the ball right into the paths of the Lesotho players. The lack of proper communication got his defender in the way and he couldn’t get his permutations right so, rather than punching the ball, he just managers to get hands on it and it cost us the first goal. In no distant time and the final seconds, he almost repeated the same mistake at the very last minute and that would have been the last of it.

Overconfidence and pride have started affecting Stanley Nwabali. We were just fortunate to get those three points because the last blunder would have cost us that game. I don't see any reason why he wouldn't have caught that ball that led to the first goal. That goal led to our goal deficit which means the Super Eagles would have to score three goals when they meet Benin in Nigeria. The team still have other good goalkeepers that can replace him if he continues with these costly mistakes.

[Jostern]

Nwabali made a lot of errors, errors that would have cost us the game. We were lucky to have gotten the second goal and be able to secure it. Our performance was not very impressive, it is very sad that we are still struggling to qualify when so many teams have made qualification already. I doubt the ability of this coach even if we are able to make it to the world cup that he will be able to take Nigeria through the group stages of the World Cup. It is a painful thing and will be a shame if we are unable to qualify for the world cup with this quality of players that we have.

Nwabali has been doing this right from the game against Rwanda. I am not happy with his performance, so i wish he can change and play better. The most annoying thing is that he is letting pride get into him.

You need to wake up to see the coach isn't the problem. He has a listening ear. Now he dont play any player as his favorite anyone can be subbed. Look how he subbed tolu and played Akor along side Osimehn.

I was very disappointed with His performance during the game against Lesotho, he was at fault for the goal that was conceded by the Nigerian Super Eagles, and he was having an off day in the goal post, and he almost cost Nigeria to draw the game, when he made that late blunder that almost went into the back of the net, if he had caused that goal I don’t know what we would’ve been talking now, it would’ve been very ridiculous to try and make of from the against Benin, it would been just a game over for the Nigerian Super Eagles.

The Nigerian Super Eagles definitely have to try and up their game against Benin if they can try to win the game on a huge margin, which I’m thinking it might be somehow impossible should things not go right for them, the super eagles have been very lackadaisical all through the World Cup qualifiers Stages.

[BitBakerr1]

Nwabali was full of it, errors. It wasn’t skill or good performance that kept Nigeria in the game, it was share luck that’s all. You can imagine Nwabali on 2 occasions, pushing the ball right into the paths of the Lesotho players. The lack of proper communication got his defender in the way and he couldn’t get his permutations right so, rather than punching the ball, he just managers to get hands on it and it cost us the first goal. In no distant time and the final seconds, he almost repeated the same mistake at the very last minute and that would have been the last of it.

Overconfidence and pride have started affecting Stanley Nwabali. We were just fortunate to get those three points because the last blunder would have cost us that game. I don't see any reason why he wouldn't have caught that ball that led to the first goal. That goal led to our goal deficit which means the Super Eagles would have to score three goals when they meet Benin in Nigeria. The team still have other good goalkeepers that can replace him if he continues with these costly mistakes.

Stanley Nwabali is a very good goalkeeper and he has proven that to us however I really don't know why he did what he did in the last match he made some mistakes that would have caused us to lose that full point we got, especially that last mistake he made, sometimes when someone is been praised too much he or she may start misbehaving which is very bad, I know very well he's a good goalkeeper and I know that he can sit up and start doing well he should better start doing well so he won't cost Nigeria super eagles more harm than good.
Yeah that first goal that they scored the Nigeria super eagles was a mistake by the goalkeeper who would have caught the ball and not push it away like that I really don't know why Stanley Nwabali is keeping ball like that he was not like this before like I said he should better sit up.

[IceLincoln]

And the only miracle for us to qualify is if we win benin by +3 goals which is very hard ....

Not only that, South Africa must also fail to beat Rwanda in their own game. If South Africa beats Rwanda, whatever we do against Benin is futile. So pull out your calculator guys and start doing the maths, lol. Seriously, i don't see us beating Benin 3-0 or more, we struggle to get goals, so unless something really miraculous happens, which i hope it does, we are gonna miss back-to-back World cup's, so disappointing to say the least.

It is very simple that Nigeria Super Eagles will not qualify in this World Cup because South Africa will not lose their game with Rwanda and it is not easy for the Super Eagles to beat Benin Republic. If Nigeria win Benin Republic and South Africa draw their game, Nigeria is gone and if South Africa wins their game and Nigeria also wins their games, Nigeria is gone as well. So the only hope we have now is for South Africa to lose their game and Super Eagles to win their game.
Now the question is, is it possible for South Africa to lose their game?

Yeah the chances of Super Eagles qualifying is just very small, honestly I don’t have that hope but the Nigerian in me wants them to qualify. To answer your question Yes, it’s very possible for South Africa to lose their game, they lost first leg 2:0 but now it’s a different ballgame since the World Cup qualification depends on the outcome of the match but I’m just hoping for a draw from them while our boys do their job. Our downfall has been poor defense, poor communication, cheap mistakes and relaxation when match is not yet over.
Benin are going to be very defensive and our Eagles have it difficult to open a defensive team, that’s gonna be our problem and that’s why I’m not sure we would qualify.

[Cyber_warrior]

Nwabali made a lot of errors, errors that would have cost us the game. We were lucky to have gotten the second goal and be able to secure it.

Nwabali is a talented goal keeper, he has really tried for the super eagles, and he deserves to be the teams main goalkeeper, but what I notice from the guy is arrogance, he is too confident in himself which is really not good, if you are too confident in yourself, at the end you will end up making some silly mistakes which was what happened to Nwabali against Lesotho. If not that the super eagles were able to score another goal, Nwabali mistake would have made us lose the match.

The super eagles played against Lesotho, seriously the match wasn’t even suppose to be a difficult one for us, and we had the opportunity to even score more than 2 goals in the match, but they missed lots of opportunities and were able to score just two goals.

[knowngunman]

The pressure will be on Benin, Nigeria and South Africa on the last day because if Nigeria gets an information that SA are leading meanwhile they're playing a draw against Benin then you'd see that desperation from the Super Eagles and same goes to the SA should Incase they hears we're winning. This is a situation I never wanted the Eagles to find themselves because it will spoil how good they want to play and the draw South Africa had against Zimbabwe on Friday gave Nigeria a little hope to see themselves fighting for the top spot and if the Super Eagles fails to win and South Africa mistakenly plays a draw then it is done, it will only be Benin and South Africa that's making way to the world cup with Benin finishing second for the play off and Nigeria will not see themselves playing the World Cup and it will be bad to see the young players who haven't played in the World Cup before to miss out on this very one.

Are we still hoping to play in the next World Cup like seriously? Look, things are very complicated for Super Eagle and I don't think any of the scenario that would make us qualify a realistic one. The first scenario is South Africa to lose against Rwanda in their own play ground. You can imagine how impossible that can. If miracle happens and Rwanda manage to defeat South Africa, the second scenario would render it useless. Nigeria needs to defeat Benin Republic and not only defeat but with two or more goals so they can have goal differences advantage to finish above the two teams.

Do you think Nigeria can beat this Benin squad with such margin even if South Africa Los their match and everything rely on Nigeria? I know it sounds bad to hear but we have to face this hard reality and prepare well next time. And by the way, it's better to save ourselves international embarrassment right from now since we are finding it hard to Top a group with Lesotho, Rwanda, Benin Republic and South Africa.

[snipie]

Do you think Nigeria can beat this Benin squad with such margin even if South Africa Los their match and everything rely on Nigeria? I know it sounds bad to hear but we have to face this hard reality and prepare well next time. And by the way, it's better to save ourselves international embarrassment right from now since we are finding it hard to Top a group with Lesotho, Rwanda, Benin Republic and South Africa.

No I don't think that Nigeria can beat Benin, it is their golden chance to access FIFA World Cup and I doubt they will miss it.
Now bets are hyping Super Eagles a lot. I saw odds of less than 1.5 for Nigeria and more than 4 for Benin which I find it a bit crazy. I find people very emotional to support Nigeria or I am missing something. I hope the best for them but they are way far from the level of any team playing World Cup.

[Princess Leah]

The pressure will be on Benin, Nigeria and South Africa on the last day because if Nigeria gets an information that SA are leading meanwhile they're playing a draw against Benin then you'd see that desperation from the Super Eagles and same goes to the SA should Incase they hears we're winning. This is a situation I never wanted the Eagles to find themselves because it will spoil how good they want to play and the draw South Africa had against Zimbabwe on Friday gave Nigeria a little hope to see themselves fighting for the top spot and if the Super Eagles fails to win and South Africa mistakenly plays a draw then it is done, it will only be Benin and South Africa that's making way to the world cup with Benin finishing second for the play off and Nigeria will not see themselves playing the World Cup and it will be bad to see the young players who haven't played in the World Cup before to miss out on this very one.

Are we still hoping to play in the next World Cup like seriously? Look, things are very complicated for Super Eagle and I don't think any of the scenario that would make us qualify a realistic one. The first scenario is South Africa to lose against Rwanda in their own play ground. You can imagine how impossible that can. If miracle happens and Rwanda manage to defeat South Africa, the second scenario would render it useless. Nigeria needs to defeat Benin Republic and not only defeat but with two or more goals so they can have goal differences advantage to finish above the two teams.

Do you think Nigeria can beat this Benin squad with such margin even if South Africa Los their match and everything rely on Nigeria? I know it sounds bad to hear but we have to face this hard reality and prepare well next time. And by the way, it's better to save ourselves international embarrassment right from now since we are finding it hard to Top a group with Lesotho, Rwanda, Benin Republic and South Africa.

The fact that things are complicated doesn't mean that the super eagles or their spectators should give up, my experience is viewing football matches has taught me thar anything is possible and no team should give up till the very end, I know that the super eagles have made qualifying for the world cup very though at this point but they shouldn't give up and do all they can to win their last match.

 With how lazy the super eagles were, one would thing they can beat Benin Republic with lots of goal margins but it's possible, the super eagles have the capacity, if only they can believe in themselves, beating Benin Republic is very possible.

[Asiska02]

Nwabali made a lot of errors, errors that would have cost us the game. We were lucky to have gotten the second goal and be able to secure it. Our performance was not very impressive, it is very sad that we are still struggling to qualify when so many teams have made qualification already. I doubt the ability of this coach even if we are able to make it to the world cup that he will be able to take Nigeria through the group stages of the World Cup. It is a painful thing and will be a shame if we are unable to qualify for the world cup with this quality of players that we have.

The problem with the Nigeria national team is still very unsolved yet because how do we struggle against Lesotho, this should have been a bonus match for us. We made things became harder for us when we failed to win some of our matches in the past which we should have won easily. We ended up drawing too many matches that we ought to have won, this is why we are still struggling and still in this state that we are now. It will only take a miraculous intervention to see us qualify to the World Cup.

If no miracle happens, we should be talking about how they can get to qualify for the 2030 World Cup. When the slot for Africans were not much, we get to qualify and now that it has been increased, we’re struggling to qualify, this is totally shameful. We have a quite good number of players at our disposal, we are not taking advantage of their use and that’s why we are still struggling to qualify.

[Sexylizzy2813]

The pressure will be on Benin, Nigeria and South Africa on the last day because if Nigeria gets an information that SA are leading meanwhile they're playing a draw against Benin then you'd see that desperation from the Super Eagles and same goes to the SA should Incase they hears we're winning. This is a situation I never wanted the Eagles to find themselves because it will spoil how good they want to play and the draw South Africa had against Zimbabwe on Friday gave Nigeria a little hope to see themselves fighting for the top spot and if the Super Eagles fails to win and South Africa mistakenly plays a draw then it is done, it will only be Benin and South Africa that's making way to the world cup with Benin finishing second for the play off and Nigeria will not see themselves playing the World Cup and it will be bad to see the young players who haven't played in the World Cup before to miss out on this very one.

Are we still hoping to play in the next World Cup like seriously? Look, things are very complicated for Super Eagle and I don't think any of the scenario that would make us qualify a realistic one. The first scenario is South Africa to lose against Rwanda in their own play ground. You can imagine how impossible that can. If miracle happens and Rwanda manage to defeat South Africa, the second scenario would render it useless. Nigeria needs to defeat Benin Republic and not only defeat but with two or more goals so they can have goal differences advantage to finish above the two teams.

Do you think Nigeria can beat this Benin squad with such margin even if South Africa Los their match and everything rely on Nigeria? I know it sounds bad to hear but we have to face this hard reality and prepare well next time. And by the way, it's better to save ourselves international embarrassment right from now since we are finding it hard to Top a group with Lesotho, Rwanda, Benin Republic and South Africa.

Since from the beginning it has always been like this, we expecting a miracle when we know it has gotten too difficult for the country to advance to the next phase of any competition or just like this one to qualify for the World Cup so what do you expect? We have to talk about them and put one or two together to see if the impossible can be possible. We know it is hard for the Eagles to top that group and I myself I'm not seeing it that way but for them to finish second and go for a possible playoff that's where I'm more focused on but should in case the opportunity of topping that group then we'll gladly take it.
Rwanda to get a win looks impossible which we all know but I have to ask, can't it happen? That's the question but I believe if the Super Eagles concentrate on their business and give the Benin side a better fight I think the goal margin won't be just two goals but more than 2 so I see the Eagles getting the number of goals they need to qualify for the World Cup. I get all you're saying and the damage has already been done so we have to face it first before planning on something new and different, it should be the problem of our NFF to do that and for now let the boys hand this shit they find themselves in.