World Cup play-offs: How Nigeria can qualify for 2026 tournament | OneFootball

The Super Eagles must go through the play-offs to reach next year’s tournament

Nigeria take on Gabon in their World Cup play-off semi-final on Thursday, with the Super Eagles eyeing a place at next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

They missed out on automatic qualification to South Africa, who topped Group C with a final-day victory over Rwanda.

Incidentally, Nigeria helped them with a 4-0 win against Benin, who had led the league table ahead of the day’s play, but they were leapfrogged by the Super Eagles after a humbling defeat.

The victory for Nigeria sent them into a four-team mini-tournament, with the four top-ranked runners-up facing off for a place in the inter-confederation play-offs in March.

Eric Chelle’s side play Gabon in Rabat, Morocco this week, and they could come up against either Cameroon or the DR Congo later on should they emerge victorious.

There has been unrest among Nigerian fans after the Super Eagles announced their ‘21 players in camp’ squad update ahead of the Gabon fixture, and that saw Victor Osimhen omitted.

The Galatasaray striker hit a hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Benin and was named in Chelle’s initial squad.

How can Nigeria qualify for the 2026 World Cup?

Nigeria were one of the best four runners-up in CAF qualifying, with Onyeka’s late goal seeing them edge out Burkina Faso on goal difference.

They now move onto the CAF play-off semi-finals, with the two winners of those one-legged ties - taking place on neutral ground in Morocco on Thursday, November 13 - facing off in a final on Sunday, November 16 to decide Africa’s sole representative in a further inter-confederation play-off stage in Mexico in March.

Those semi-final fixtures are determined by FIFA’s world rankings as of the latest update on October 23, with the highest-ranked team taking on the lowest, and the second-highest facing the third-highest.

As such, Nigeria face Gabon, while Cameroon will meet the DR Congo.

The inter-confederation play-offs will be conducted in March next year, with six teams from five confederations playing for the final two spots at the World Cup.