Nigeria beat Benin 4-0 to leapfrog their opponents and keep their World Cup dreams alive.
The Super Eagles have their star striker, Victor Osimhen, to thank as his hat-trick, added to by Frank Onyeka’s late goal, gave them the three points they needed to finish as runners-up in Group C, which went down to the wire.
Benin started the day at the top of the group, needing only to avoid a heavy defeat against Nigeria, but they were thrashed in Uyo.
However, Nigeria also needed South Africa “to drop points against Rwanda in Nelspruit, but the Bafana Bafana“ran out 3-0 victors to jump above Benin and top the group.
In the African qualifying stages, only the group winners qualify directly for next year’s World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, while the runners-up qualify for a play-off stage.
How do Nigeria qualify for the 2026 World Cup?
Since Nigeria finished as group runners-up, they will be thrown into a rankings list of all the group runners-up throughout the continent.
The system for the play-offs is as follows: The top four-ranked sides all move into play-off semi-finals, with the two winners facing off in a final to decide Africa’s sole representative in a further inter-confederation play-off stage.
The rankings for those semi-finals will be made off FIFA ranking, with the highest taking on the lowest, and the second-highest facing the third-highest.
The inter-confederation play-offs will be conducted in March next year, featuring six teams from five confederations playing for the final two spots at the World Cup.
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