World Cup permutations: What Nigeria and South Africa need to qualify for next summer's tournament | OneFootball

Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana are locked in a fierce battle to make it to north America

Battling: Nigeria’s Samuel Chukwueze and South Africa’s Teboho Mokoena

AFP via Getty Images

Nigeria and South Africa are at the business end of their World Cup qualifying campaigns.

The Super Eagles take on Lesotho and Benin in two crucial fixtures this week, and they sit third in Group C with those two games left to play.

The group winners will receive direct entry into next year’s tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, while the second-placed team enters a mini-league against the runners-up in other groups.

The top four second-placed teams then are drawn into a play-off to determine the only African representative in the inter-confederation play-offs, where six teams across the different continents will face off to decide the final two World Cup berths.

In Group C at the moment, Eric Chelle’s side are third on 11 points, three behind leaders Benin and second-placed South Africa.

Nigeria were handed a huge boost to their qualification chances when South Africa were docked three points by FIFA for fielding a suspended player in their match against Lesotho, and Bafana Bafana sit behind Benin due to their inferior goal difference.

There are five teams out of the six that can still finish in the top two in Group C, with Zimbabwe the only side eliminated.

Had South Africa not been penalised, they would have been closing in on an automatic qualification into next year’s tournament, but now, they must beat Zimbabwe and Rwanda to seal a top-two finish.

Nigeria’s final game against Benin looks like it will be the decisive fixture of the group, provided Nigeria defeat Lesotho on Friday, although that will be no easy task.

That is because Lesotho and Rwanda both still have outside shouts of qualification, but they both must win their remaining games and hope that other results go their way.