Nigeria veteran Segun Odegbami believes the Super Eagles will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup via the play-offs following their overwhelming 4-0 victory over the Benin Republic on Tuesday.
The former Green Eagles winger complimented the team’s performance in Uyo, claiming they deserved the decisive victory that kept their World Cup aspirations 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,” Odegbami said.
“I think we have a very good chance to qualify from these playoffs to make it to the World Cup.”
Victor Osimhen’s hat-trick and Frank Onyeka’s stoppage-time goal sealed Nigeria’s spot in the African play-offs as one of the top four second-placed teams with 15 points and a +7 goal differential.
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The win brought an end to a challenging qualifying campaign for the three-time African champions, who faced the threat of missing two World Cups in a row for the first time since 1994.
Odegbami, who was part of Nigeria’s first AFCON victory in 1980 and represented the country in the 1976 Olympics, voiced confidence in the current squad’s capacity to make it through the play-offs and into 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 meet one of the other qualified second-placed teams over two legs for a spot in the World Cup.
