Former Nigeria international goalkeeper, Emmanuel Babayaro, has said on paper the Super Eagles should qualify easily for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Super Eagles were drawn in Group C with South Africa, Benin Republic, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda in the race for the 2026 tournament to be co-hosted by USA, Mexico, and Canada.
In the race for qualification to the 1994 World Cup, the Eagles and South Africa clashed in the first round.
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After a 4-0 win in Lagos, the Eagles held the Bafana Bafana to a goalless draw in Johannesburg.
Zimbabwe and Rwanda were in the same group with the Eagles in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers which Angola secured ahead of the three-time AFCON winners.
Also, the Eagles will come up against former coach Gernot Rohr, who is currently in charge of Benin Republic.
Reacting to the draw Babayaro, a gold medal winner at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, posited that the Eagles should not have problems.
However, he pointed out some of the issues that can cost the team the ticket.
“On paper, you would say we have already qualified and that’s how it’s suppose to be because Nigeria is one of the most powerful nations in the world as far as football is concern,” Babayaro said on Breakfast Show on Brila FM.
“But we’ve also seen in recent times that as a result of our lackadaisical attitude and managerial ineptitude we’ve suffered some knocks here and there.
“On a good day, I should say we have already qualified but we need to do the right thing unfortunately we don’t have the best technical hands at the moment and we’ve been suffering from that for a while now and that might just be the Achilles heel. But on paper, we should be able to qualify.“
