Nigeria’s World Cup dream on the brink after Bafana draw

Nigeria are too proud a football nation to raise the white flag on their Fifa World Cup qualification quest, the fact they are now reliant on other results to go their way notwithstanding.

The Super Eagles’ failure to beat Bafana Bafana in Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein has essentially put paid to their hopes of automatically qualifying for the global showpiece to be hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.

Speaking after the match, coach Eric Chelle admitted disappointment at their failure to beat Hugo Broos’ men, whom they now trail by six points with two matches to go. But the former Mali international remains hopeful. After all, they could still sneak into the play-offs by finishing as one of the best four second-placed teams, though that too looks a long stretch.

“We are professionals and these players want to win. This moment is a difficult moment for us. In two months we have the last two games, so there is lots to think about and to analyse this game (against South Africa),” he said, adding that he has belief in his team’s abilities.

“There is power in this Nigeria team. We started to build something and people need to understand quickly that it’s a project and we will continue to work on it.”

Though third now behind Benin, who smashed Lesotho 4-0 on Tuesday, the Super Eagles can sneak into second by winning both their matches against Lesotho and Benin. Their chances of being among the best four runners-up look slim given that they can only finish on 17 points. Gabon are already on 19, while both Madagascar and the DRC are on 16 points, with a quartet on 15.

Failure to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup finals would be a disaster for the proud nation that rates itself as the best in the game on the continent, a stance few can argue against given the numerous stars Nigeria have at top clubs in some of the world’s best leagues.

The team that took to the field against Bafana on Tuesday was teeming with world-renowned players who ply their trade in the English Premiership, Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga as well as Spanish La Liga.

Missing out on the World Cup would be a mockery of their talent, with the likes of current African Footballer of the Year Ademola Lookman and his predecessor Victor Osimhen in their late twenties and unlikely to feature in the 2030 tournament.

As he reflected on the match, Chelle lamented the lapse of concentration that allowed Bafana to score, as well as Nigeria’s poor decision-making in the final third.

“We wanted to take a risk in the first half to stay one on one. We came here to try to win this game, but we made just a ten-second mistake and conceded a goal. After that we had the state of mind to come back (and equalise),” he said, referring to the own goal conceded by captain William Troost-Ekong and the equaliser right on the stroke of half-time by Calvin Bassey.

“At the beginning of the second half we put pressure on South Africa, but the last technical skill, the last pass, was not the right one. The draw is a good result.

"Making a draw with this great team of South Africa is a good result, but for us we wanted to win. So, we are a little disappointed.”

You can bet that in Nigeria they were far more than disappointed, because they know it is now going to take a miracle of biblical proportions for the Super Eagles to qualify for the World Cup. And prayerful a nation as they are, even they will admit they are up against it. But you can bet they will only give up when there is absolutely no chance of them qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.