Akin Ayomide
Nigeria legend Segun Odegbami has backed the Super Eagles to secure qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup through the play-offs following their dominant 4-0 victory over Benin Republic on Tuesday.
The former Green Eagles winger praised the team’s performance in Uyo, saying they deserved the emphatic win that kept their World Cup hopes alive,“We did very well. I am happy with the boys, and I think we deserved to win and we won very well and we now have an opportunity to qualify, I think we have a very good chance to qualify from these play-offs to make it to the World Cup.”Odegbami said.
Victor Osimhen’s hat-trick and Frank Onyeka’s stoppage-time strike secured Nigeria’s place in the African play-offs as one of the best four second-placed teams with 15 points and a +7 goal difference.
The result ended a difficult qualifying campaign for the three-time African champions, who had faced the prospect of missing back-to-back World Cups for the first time since their debut in 1994.
Odegbami, who was part of Nigeria’s maiden AFCON triumph in 1980 and represented the country at the 1976 Olympics, expressed confidence in the current squad’s ability to navigate the play-offs and secure a place at the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The Super Eagles will now await the draw for the play-offs, where they will face one of the other qualified second-placed teams over two legs for a chance to get a ticket to the World Cup.