Gbenga Elegbeleye, Chairman of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has expressed confidence that the Super Eagles will be at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Elegbeleye said this when he spoke to South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) on Thursday. The NPFL boss said he looks forward to Nigeria and South Africa doing well at the World Cup.
“Congratulations to South Africa for qualifying for the World Cup, it’s a straight qualification. Again, Nigeria is going to the playoffs and I can assure you that the Super Eagles are going to join South Africa, we are definitely going to qualify through the playoffs,” Elegbeye said.
“I wish Nigeria and South Africa can go very far in the World Cup because it’s going to be a plus in African football when we see ourselves going through the preliminary stage, to the second round, to the quarterfinals, to the semi-finals, it will be a plus to African football. I wish the two countries very well, I wish them success when they go there,” he said.
FIFA deducted 3 points and 3 goals from South Africa for fielding Teboho Mokoena against Lesotho though he was ineligible to play, a mistake which could have cost them a place at next year’s World Cup. Elegbeleye said Bafana Bafana should learn from the incident.
“Again, I hope in the future, South Africa will learn to correct mistakes of not using players on two yellow cards, that gave them this last-minute qualification, when they should have qualified long ago, but right now, we wish them all the best,” he advised.
The Super Eagles will play against Gabon in the playoffs in November. The team will converge on Rabat on November 9, five days before the playoff opener against Gabon.
The winner of the Nigeria vs Gabon tie will battle the winner of the Cameroon vs DR Congo game to determine who picks Africa’s sole ticket for the Intercontinental Playoff.
