FIFA World Cup trophy to arrive Nigeria March 3

The original FIFA World Cup trophy, which Nigeria’s Super Eagles and 31 other teams will be competing for in Russia next summer, will arrive in Nigeria on March 3.

General Secretary of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mohammed Sanusi, said on Wednesday in Abuja that confirmation about this has come from world football-ruling body FIFA.

“Nigeria is among the countries the iconic trophy, which will be up for grabs at the 21st FIFA World Cup finals, will be visiting before next year’s major showpiece.

“We have confirmation now,’’ he said.

Nigeria became the first African country to qualify for the 32-team finals when beating Zambia 1-0 in Uyo on Oct. 7.

The Eagles picked the lone slot from Africa’s Final Round Group B with one match to spare.

However, they will only know their group phase opponents after the Draw Ceremony at The Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 1.

The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour is usually a chance to see the original FIFA World Cup trophy.

Fans from all over the world have the opportunity of seeing the trophy and having their photo taken with the famous diadem from Sept. 9 to June 7, 2018.

The 21st FIFA World Cup finals will be staged across 12 venues in 11 cities in the world’s largest country between June 14 and July 15, 2018.

The venues include Ekaterinburg Arena in Ekaterinburg, Kaliningrad Stadium in Kaliningrad, Kazan Arena in Kazan, Luzhniki Stadium and Spartak Stadium, both in Moscow, and Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod.

The rest are Rostov Arena at Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Samara Arena at Samara, Mordovia Arena at Saransk, Fisht Stadium at Sochi and Volgograd Arena in Volgograd.