The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick has identified the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City as the venue that would host the Super Eagles’ first 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
The Delta state born official said this in a chat with Brila FM.
The NFF supremo said a delegation of FIFA would inspect the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium next February to certify it fit to host World Cup qualifiers, expressing confidence that the revamped stadium would pass the litmus test.
The Super Eagles last played at the venue in 2011 against Bostwana in an international friendly encounter.
“You cannot talk about Nigerian football without talking about Edo,” Pinnick told Brila FM.
“At a point in time, you have to find Premier League clubs like Flash Flamingoes, Bendel United, Bendel Insurance.
“All these clubs were in Benin and they paraded most of the Super Eagles players so football is coming home and that’s why we are bringing the first World Cup qualifying match to Benin City.”
The three-time African champions will know their group opponents for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers on January 21, 2020, in a draw that will take place in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
The Super Eagles have featured six times at the World Cup and will be aiming to qualify for the seventh time in 2022.
40 countries will be divided into 10 groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches.
The 10 group winners will advance to the third round where they will play home-and-away over two legs. The five winners will qualify for the World Cup.
This post was last modified on December 19, 2019 1:51 pm