Nigeria are set to face Gabon in a World Cup play-off semi-final next month, leaving Burkina Faso to feel hard done by.
This week produced a dramatic conclusion to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) section of World Cup qualifying with plenty of twists and turns.
Perhaps none more so than the battle to finish as one of the best runners-up.
After defeating Ethiopia on Monday night, Burkina Faso were in pole position to claim one of the four spots, though their 3-1 win left the door ajar for the Super Eagles.
Nigeria, themselves, had eyes on topping Group C as they welcomed Benin to the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium on Tuesday evening.
But with South Africa brushing aside Rwanda 3-0 to qualify for the World Cup—for the first time since 2010—as group winners, attentions turned towards a play-off spot for Eric Chelle’s side.
Leading 3-0 thanks to Victor Osimhen’s “stunning hat-trick,” Nigeria needed to score another to eliminate Burkina Faso.
Brentford midfielder Frank Onyeka came up with the all important goal in stoppage time.
As a result, the Super Eagles sealed a spot as one of the four best runners-up in CAF qualification by virtue of a superior goal difference to Burkina Faso after the two nations finished level on points.
However, there has been some confusion around why Les Etalons missed out on a play-off spot given they accumulated more points than Nigeria (21) and had a better goal difference (+15) in Group A.
Why Nigeria qualified for World Cup play-offs ahead of Burkina Faso?
After Eritrea—initially placed in Group E—withdrew from qualifying before playing a game, it was determined results against the sixth-placed teams in each group were discounted to determine the four best runners-up.
Therefore, Burkina Faso’s “wins over Djibouti home and away ultimately counted for nothing as was their goal difference of +9 after scoring 10 and conceding just once across the two games.”
Consequently, the 21 points Burkina Faso accumulated dropped to 15 and their goal difference went from +15 to +6 with Onyeka’s stoppage time strike for Nigeria proving decisive.
Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon, and DR Congo will play a mini tournament in Morocco in November to determine a single team that will go on to compete in an inter-continental playoff in March for a place at the 2026 World Cup.
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