Nigeria went from reviving their 2026 World Cup qualification hopes to undoing a lot of the hard work — again — with a 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe on Tuesday.
Tawanda Chirewa’s last gasp equalizer on the stroke of time canceled what looked to be Victor Osimhen’s winner to disappoint Super Eagles fans and their hopes of making it to North America for next year’s World Cup.
Nigeria went into the game not just buoyed by their first win of the campaign last week against Rwanda, but with the possibility that they could close the gap on group leaders South Africa, who fielded the ineligible Teboho Mokoena against Lesotho, and are now in danger of losing the three points they won in that game.
Mokoena was on two yellow cards and should have served a one-match suspension. That situation is expected to be reviewed by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee. If Bafana Bafana lose the three points, that would once again throw the group wide open.
Despite that lifeline, the Super Eagles failed to hold up their own end of the bargain, which would have seen them go up to nine points and within a point of South Africa if FIFA were to take away those points.
But even with a more dominant start, the Super Eagles laboured for long swathes of the game, frustrated by the visitors, who kept to their half and only broke out when the opportunity presented itself.
Just when the Nigerian frustration was at its highest, Osimhen again stepped up, sneaking in at the back stick to head in Ola Aina’s curved cross midway through the second half.
That goal stood until the last minute, when Nigerian lethargy allowed Zimbabwe to race the ball from one end of the pitch to another and Chirewa arrived on Wilfred Ndidi’s side to take advantage of a hesitant clearance by captain William Troost-Ekong and break Nigerian hearts.
Sloppy Super Eagles
Eric Sekou Chelle has been talking up how much he wants his team to play with energy and running. Against Rwanda, they did just that. It is unclear if all that running away from home took its toll in Uyo, but after their first half swarm, where they could have scored at least five goals but for the heroics of goalkeeper Washington Aruba, they appeared a lost team.
Osimhen, Moses Simon and Alex Iwobi seemed the only players willing to put in more than an ordinary shift.
By the second half, the entire team were looking leggy. All of that early pressure seemed to have taken the gas out of them, leaving them second in most duels and giving Zimbabwe free run of the Uyo pitch.
So much so that Khama Billiat almost scored less than three minutes after Osimhen’s goal, but for the crossbar.
But the greater negligence was in allowing Zimbabwe to walk the ball all the way from their own area unchallenged and into the Nigeria box to score with seconds of the game left.
Chelle admitted after the game that his team could have been worn out by their early intensity
“This system is very hard because you are making some high pressure. I think maybe in the last 10 minutes, it was hard for us because we made a great first half with lots of intensity and with lots of aggression so maybe the players a little tired. Maybe we need 10 seconds less and we don’t concede this goal,” Sekou Chelle said.
It is perhaps understandable why Osimhen was so miffed after the game that he waved off teammates who were coming to try to console him.
Chelle’s game management
There is plenty of blame to share around, and Sekou Chelle will certainly take his fair share. Although the coach has barely had five full training sessions altogether with his team, his new, high-intensity tactics have created opportunities.
Without Aruba’s fine form on the day, Nigeria probably would have put the game to bed well before halftime.
However, the tradeoff for that dissipation of energy early in the game was that the levels would drop later on, as they did.
And this is where Sekou Chelle fell short in his game management. With Osimhen, Iwobi and other players losing steam, the coach subbed off the striker, but replaced him with Victor Boniface — a like for like sub. By the end, the Super Eagles had Boniface, Arokodare and Lookman up front with little cover in midfield or defence, to hold on to what they had.
Sekou Chelle says he wanted to score more goals but admitted that maybe he could have done things differently.
“We tried to score lots of goals and after our goal, I said to my players, continue to try to score another goal. After we scored the goal, it was difficult for Victor, so I made another change. I did not want to put a defender so maybe now we can say the choice was not good, but if we win, the choice was good,” he added.
World Cup chances in doubt
With South Africa now on 13 points and Rwanda and Lesotho on eight, Nigeria’s chances of qualifying are bleak.
Even with a FIFA decision potentially going against South Africa, the Super Eagles would still need to win the last four games to stand a slim chance. They are currently not even in contention for a playoff spot open to the top second-place finishers.
That roundabout route, however, may be the Super Eagles’ best chance, however slim, of making it to the World Cup — and even that is not guaranteed. They would certainly need to win all remaining four games for 19 points. Gabon, who lead that race, are already on 15 points.
There are five teams on 12 points and one on 11, making it a huge mountain to climb for the Super Eagles.
Still, Sekou Chelle is not giving up, even though he acknowledges that second place is what the team might be fighting for.
“It is hard because my team was the best on the pitch with the ball positioning, with the fast attack, it was just we missed some goals. I am so disappointed for my players, for the country because we can do it. Now, I think we can go for the second place. This is our position today. The team did a great job in ten days so they deserve this qualification. I am trusting them to win against Rwanda and South Africa in September and then we will see,” he said.