Winning Group C Tuesday remains the best route for the Super Eagles to now qualify for next year’s World Cup after the various results tonight.
After an evening of drama, this is how things stand in Group C 📸#WCQ | #SSFootball pic.twitter.com/wUmKb5bbKM
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) October 10, 2025
Benin consolidated top place in this qualifying group after they pipped home team Rwanda 1-0 in Kigali today.
They thus have 17 points from nine matches and only need to beat Nigeria in Uyo on the final day of action Tuesday to qualify for their first-ever World Cup appearance.
A draw in Uyo could also give them a fair chance of reaching the Mundial as they have a healthy +5 goals difference.
However, they will rather forget their last visit to Uyo in September 2024, when they were shot down by the Super Eagles 3-0 in a 2025 AFCON qualifier.
South Africa suffered a second setback in their quest to qualify for the World Cup since 24 years ago when they could only draw 0-0 with Zimbabwe in Durban with 40-year-old goalkeeper Washington Arubi keeping out everything they threw at him on the night.
Bafana Bafana were dealt a huge blow to their World Cup hopes last week when FIFA docked them three points and three goals for fielding an ineligible player in a qualifier against Lesotho in March.
It now looks like Hugo Broos team have choked when it matters most.
However, they can still make up for the late stumbles by beating Rwanda Tuesday, while hoping that Benin do not win in Nigeria.
For the Super Eagles, they will need to beat Benin by at least 2-0 and hope that South Africa do not beat Rwanda.
Tonight’s sloppy goal they let in against Lesotho could now prove just too costly for Nigeria.
They now have 14 points with a +3 goals’ difference.
