Once Argentina’s World Cup rival, now need a miracle for 2026 | OneFootball

There was a time when facing Nigeria in the World Cup was practically an annual event for the Argentine National Team; the African team was a rival of the albiceleste in 1994, 2002 and then consecutively in 2010, 2014 and 2018. However, they failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and all indications suggest that they won't make it to the 2026 World Cup either.

The Super Eagles have won only two matches in the current qualifiers; draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe and a loss to Benin have left the team far from the leader South Africa and even with significant complications to get among the top four runners-up that go to Play-offs for a place in the international repechage.

Nigeria's nearly impossible options to qualify for the 2026 World Cup

Nigeria still has an option to qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup, by winning Group C. But for that, they need to beat Lesotho and Benin, hope that Benin does not beat Rwanda in their other match and dream of South Africa's defeats against the two bottom teams of the group: Lesotho and Zimbabwe. If all this happens, they would reach the South Africans at the top of the Group.

But that still won't be enough, since they are obliged to cut a goal difference that favors South Africa by 6 goals (+8 South Africa / +2 Nigeria). Only if all this happens, Nigeria would qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup.

Now, as unlikely as their direct qualification seems, so is their qualification to the African Play-offs. There are nine groups in the CAF qualifiers, and only the top four runners-up will qualify for these Play-Offs. In the best case scenario - which would be the only one in which they could qualify - Nigeria would reach 17 points in their group.

With that, they would already be behind Ivory Coast (20pts)/Gabon (19pts), leaders of Group F, so there would be three spots left for Nigeria, and all the runners-up from the rest of the groups - except Tanzania - have at least four more points so far in the qualifiers.

Basically, by winning their two matches, Nigeria still depends on results from seven of the eight groups in the qualifiers to be able to enter the African Play-Offs. In the unlikely event that they manage to do so, they would need to win two more matches to continue with chances of going to the World Cup.

But winning the Play-Offs would not mean qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. In Africa, the Play-Offs grant a place for the international repechage against five other teams from CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, Oceania and Asia, so they would have to play - and win - this other tournament to finally enter the World Cup.

Nigeria is one of the biggest teams in Africa but their chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup are minuscule, despite the fact that the number of places has been extended to 48 teams, and all indications suggest that they will miss their second consecutive World Cup. Unless, of course, something more than a miracle happens.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.