W’Cup qualifier: Super Eagles draw South Africa, Zimbabwe, Benin, two others

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

The draws ceremony was held on Thursday in Abidjan, Cote’d’Ivoire.

The West African side missed out on the last year’s World Cup in Qatar having lost to the Black Stars of Ghana in the playoffs.

The Eagles’ tie with West-African neighbours, Benin Republic will be the first against former manager, Gernot Rohr since he was relieved from his position in 2021.

Nigeria will qualify automatically for the expanded World Cup to be co-hosted by the United States of America, Mexico, and Canada if they finish first from their group at the end of the group games.

Meanwhile, the four best runners-up from the groups will play 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 games is slated to take place between November 13-21 but it is unknown when the Super Eagles will play their first match.

See the full draw:

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

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

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

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

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

Group F: Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Kenya, The 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