On Monday, the Super Eagles of Nigeria play Benin at the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium in Ivory Coast in their fourth game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Finidi George's lads drew their first three games of the qualifiers against Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, and they have to grab a win if they do not want to miss the Mundial scheduled for USA and Mexico.
Just like the game against South Africa, which ended in a 1-1 stalemate, Nigeria will miss three key players in Moses Simon, William Troost-Ekong, and Victor Osimhen.
However, Finidi will be hoping that the lads he deploys will do the damage and turn on the heat to grind out the much-needed result against Benin.
In this piece, Soccernet.ng highlights five players that will be key for the Super Eagles in their fourth attempt to get a win at the World Cup qualifiers.
Ademola Lookman
In Lookman's last three games for Atalanta, he was on a three-game scoring streak for Atalanta. And fans expected him to bring that form to the Super Eagles camp and be the main man for the World Cup qualifiers. However, he was kept silent for most of the encounter.
Nonetheless, the former Leicester City star will be looking to improve on that performance. Moreover, he'll be up against a Benin side that are 69 places below on the FIFA rankings.
Stanley Nwabali
If there were doubts about Nwabali's quality, the South Africa-based shot-stopper proved his doubters wrong in Nigeria's game against the Bafana Bafana on Friday.
He will have to continue with his brilliant performances against Benin on Monday.
Calvin Bassey
Bassey has been one of Nigeria best defenders in the last one year. His ruggedness in defence has come in handy on several occasions. Although he suffered a lull in performance last time out, Finidi will be looking to charge the Fulham star going into the Benin game.
Wilfred Ndidi
The Super Eagles star is coming off a strong campaign with Leicester City in the English Championship. He is one of the most Nigerian players, and his presence has a cooling effect on the team. Finidi will be counting on him to use his midfield expertise and ensure Nigeria bags all three points.
Alex Iwobi
Iwobi has not had so many great games for Nigeria, but he could have something under his sleeves for Benin. His line-breaking passes could come to the fore here, and that would be key because Gernot Rohr would be looking to sit deep and hit on the counter.
