Super Eagles to begin ten-game journey to 2026 World Cup with home game against Lesotho

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will begin their journey to the 2026 World Cup in America with a home game to Lesotho, starting in November.

The Super Eagles will host Lesotho at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in their opening fixture in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Soccernet.ng reports.

The qualifications officially begin on November 13th, with Nigeria hosting Lesotho, South Africa hosting Benin Republic, and Zimbabwe travelling to Rwanda.

The second matchday will take place on November 20th, with the Super Eagles flying to Zimbabwe to face The Warriors of Zimbabwe, Lesotho hosting Benin Republic, and South Africa travelling to Rwanda.

The players will return to their club teams, and the third matchday of the qualifiers will take place during the June International break, on June 2nd, 2024, when the Super Eagles will face South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in front of the crowd that witnessed the memorable 2010 FIFA World Cup. Benin will be hosting Rwanda, while Zimbabwe will be hosting Lesotho.

The Super Eagles will travel to Benin Republic to face former coach Gernot Rohr on Matchday four, which is likely to be the most anticipated match of the group. South Africa will be hosting Zimbabwe at the time, while Lesotho will host Rwanda.

The Eagles will then resume the marathon qualification campaign in March 2025 with a trip to Rwanda followed by a home tie against Zimbabwe. They will then play Rwanda in a rematch in August 2025, followed by a trip to South Africa the following month.

In October 2025, they will play Lesotho away and Benin at home in the final qualification round.

The Group C fixtures in full:

Match Day 1, 13 November 2023

Nigeria v. Lesotho
South Africa v. Benin Republic
Rwanda v. Zimbabwe

Match Day 2, 20 November 2023

Lesotho v. Benin
Zimbabwe v. Nigeria
Rwanda v. South Africa

Match Day 3, 2 June 2024

Zimbabwe v. Lesotho
Benin v. Rwanda
Nigeria v. South Africa

Match Day 4, 9 June 2024

South Africa v. Zimbabwe
Benin v. Nigeria
Lesotho v. Rwanda

Match Day 5, 17 March 2025

South Africa v. Lesotho
Zimbabwe v. Benin
Rwanda v. Nigeria

Match Day 6, 24 March 2025

Benin v. South Africa
Nigeria v. Zimbabwe
Rwanda v. Lesotho

Match Day 7, 31 August 2025

Benin v. Zimbabwe
Lesotho v. South Africa
Nigeria v. Rwanda

Match Day 8, 7 September 2025

South Africa v. Nigeria
Benin v. Lesotho
Zimbabwe v. Rwanda

Match Day 9, 5 October 2025

Lesotho v. Nigeria
Zimbabwe v. South Africa
Rwanda v. Benin

Match Day 10, 12 October 2025

South Africa v. Rwanda
Lesotho v. Zimbabwe
Nigeria v. Benin