Super Eagles: Ex-Nigeria star reveals what went wrong against Guinea-Bissau

The Super Eagles suffered a shock 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in the second game of their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign on Tuesday, Soccernet.ng reports.

Eric Chelle’s side had earlier opened their campaign with a 2-1 comeback win over Madagascar last week, giving Nigeria a strong start to their qualification hopes.

However, Tuesday’s task proved much tougher, as Guinea-Bissau took control of the game and secured a convincing victory. The hosts took the lead after just 15 minutes when Trabzonspor striker Franculino Dju breezed past Bruno Onyemaechi before firing a curling effort beyond Stanley Nwabali.

Nigeria’s defence then collapsed as Guinea-Bissau added two more goals that the Super Eagles could have prevented. Mama Balde doubled the hosts’ advantage before Alvaro Djalo completed the scoring to seal a 3-0 victory for Guinea-Bissau.

The result leaves the three-time African champions in second place in the group standings, three points behind Guinea-Bissau, who have moved top with six points from their opening two matches.

Dimeji Lawal weighs in on Super Eagles’ display against Guinea-Bissau

Former Nigeria international Dimeji Lawal has expressed his disappointment with the Super Eagles’ performance and believes they made life easier for Guinea-Bissau by allowing the hosts to settle into the game.

Nigeria suffered their heaviest defeat in a competitive match in AFCON qualifying history, and Lawal admitted that the result was difficult to accept.

“I expected the team to take the game straight to their hosts, but we allowed them to dominate and created very few chances to threaten their goalkeeper”, Lawal said post-match.

“I really feel disappointed with this result, but that is not the end of the world because there are still many matches to play in the group.”

Nigeria now have no room for complacency in their remaining four matches after falling three points behind Guinea-Bissau.

The last time they failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations was in 2017, and they will be keen to avoid another major disappointment after also missing out on the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Lawal, however, remains confident that the Super Eagles can still recover from the defeat and qualify for the 2027 AFCON.

“I am still optimistic the Super Eagles will top the group”, he added.

Nigeria will now regroup ahead of their next round of qualifiers in November. The Super Eagles will face Tanzania in a double-header as they look to bounce back from their heavy defeat and strengthen their qualification hopes.