2026 World Cup qualifiers: Wingless Eagles crash land again in Kigali against Zimbabwe

Posted : 20 November 2023

The woeful performances of the Super Eagles of Nigeria continued on Sunday as they replicated their lifeless game in the World Cup Qualifier against the Force Warriors of Zimbabwe.

The Eagles on Sunday at the Huye Stadium in Rwanda dropped yet another point to salvage a draw against the Force Warriors of Zimbabwe with a 1-1 scoreline.

The José Peseiro-tutored team had earlier on Thursday come from behind to salvage a face-saving 1-1 draw against the less-fancied Crocodiles of Lesotho at the Goodswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.

The Match Day two played at Huye Stadium in Kigali was no different as the Super Eagles looked disoriented against another rookie nation in the football circle, the Force Warriors of Zimbabwe, as they once again drew 1-1.

A direct kick in the 26th minute, brilliantly taken from some 35 meters away, neatly beat Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho, to his left in a similar manner Ghana and some other countries often beat him via free kicks.

Recall that the Zimbabwe camp had assured they would use the weakness of Uzoho to beat Nigeria, and the team almost did exactly that, as the direct kick proved Uzoho is not worthy of wearing the Nigerian shirt at a high level, contrary to the coach's claim against the outcry by fans to drop him from the team.

Peseiro, in a face-saving measure, quickly made three changes in the 46th minute of the second half, bringing in Kelechi Iheanacho for Tella; Victor Boniface for Onyeaka, and Osayi–Samuel for Aina, which put pressure on the warriors who showed no respect to the Eagles.

Nigeria got the equalizer in the 67th minute as Moses Simon delivered a beautiful pass to Kelechi Iheanacho in the six-yard box, who rifled the ball to the far-right corner of the net for Nigeria’s relieving equalizer in the 67th minute.

The Nigerian Eagles, ranked 39th in the world and 6th in Africa, squandered 5 corner kicks to Zimbabwe’s (rated 125th in the world) none and had 3 yellow cards to 1.

Nigeria is still trailing behind South Africa, which has three points after beating the Squirrels of the Republic of Benin 2-1 on Day 1 on Saturday.

South Africa leads Group C with 3 points; Nigeria and Zimbabwe have 2 points each; Lesotho and Rwanda chalked up a point each, while the Republic of Benin is yet to earn a point in the group.

On November 21st, Lesotho will host Benin Republic at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa. On the same day, South Africa will play Rwanda at Butare before the break for the finals of the AFCON games in Ivory Coast from January to February 2024.

2026 World Cup qualifiers: Wingless Eagles crash land again in Kigali against Zimbabwe

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