Football fans express mixed reactions ahead World Cup clash

Some football fans in Lagos on Monday expressed mixed reactions regarding their expectations for Nigeria’s qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

They told our correspondent in Lagos that the team’s chances of advancing to the World Cup stage are hanging in the balance, given their previous results.

Nigeria, sitting in third position with 10 points, is behind Benin, which has 11 points, and faces table leaders South Africa, who have 16 points, in their next must-win match in Bloemfontein.

Kinlu Awopetu, a sportscaster, said that the team did well to get back on track, saying that all hope is not lost in spite of the situation they find themselves in.

“We had a great result in our last match against Rwanda, so all hope is not lost; however, it is not as easy as it looks, but it is something we can achieve.

“We must defeat South Africa and in doing this we must raise the game to get that very important result,” Awopetu said.

He blamed the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for putting the country in this tight situation, as they had done in the previous qualifications we went through.

Awopetu said that they don’t seem to learn from their past mistakes and always find themselves in difficult situations.

Timothy Henry, a football analyst, told NAN that it looks very impossible because we face a daunting task against South Africa in front of their home fans.

According to him, they have, over the years, risen to be a tough nut to crack and would be playing for pride with less pressure on them

He said that going to beat Bafana Bafana at home looks very impossible, and unfortunately, a loss or a draw will end the whole campaign.

“This was almost the same situation when we failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar.

“It will be sad having this crop of wonderful players and struggling to qualify for the World Cup, which gives our team the necessary respect we deserve in Africa,” Henry said.

Dosu Joseph said that the situation in Nigeria was tough and could have been prevented a long time ago.

“We can only hope the team raises their game against South Africa with a good result, because if they don’t, then it is the end of their qualification,” he said