WCQ: Super Eagles Misses Key Players

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will be without the trio Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze of AC Millan and Wilfred Ndidi of Leicester city upon the beginning of their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign with a home game against Lesotho at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium Thursday (today).

Following their draw at Moshood Abiola National stadium, Abuja against Ghana, The three-time African champions failed to qualify for the last edition of the World Cup in Qatar.

Despite missing the 2006 and 2022 World Cups, Nigeria have a strong record of qualifying, having played in six of the last eight tournaments.

As favourites, they’re aiming to beat Lesotho and qualify for the upcoming World Cup.

After their short term unbeaten run, the Super Eagles will be relying on their current form and hoping to beat losotho following Rwanda and Zimbabwe’s goalless draw on Wednesday.

Ahead of the clash, Lesotho coach, Leslie Notsi has disclosed that his team can withstand the pressure of the Eagles and their fans in Uyo.

“Our expectation is to have a tough match and we are taking this opportunity as a young football nation to get the exposure experience,”Notsi said.

“We have young and talented players who are eager to learn and grow so we are here to honour the fixture with a competitive mindset.

“Most of the players we have are from our developmental teams and I must also give credit to our league which has enabled us national team coaches to pick easily. We are coming here to take the opportunity of playing one of the best teams on the continent.

“We know the support will be there, and we will see how we perform under tremendous pressure because I think that will be a sign of how we have improved. We know it’s going to be tough but we will play our best,” he added.