Super Eagles will now hope to qualify for the 2026 World Cup via the Playoffs after finishing as one of four second-best teams in the CAF qualifying series.
Gabon and Cameroon are the two countries ahead of Nigeria presently in the new table for second-placed teams across the nine groups, going CAF’s new method of calculating the second-placed teams following the withdrawal of Eritrea from the race.
Nigeria bagged 15 points with a goals’ difference of plus seven, as against Burkina Faso’s 15 points and goals’ difference of plus six.
Either Burkina Faso or the Democratic Republic of Congo (playing at home to Sudan on Tuesday night) will join the trio for the battles of Morocco next month.
The winner in Morocco will proceed to the Six-Team Intercontinental Playoff, scheduled for the Mexican cities of Guadalaja and Monterrey in March next year, where two teams will emerge and qualify for the finals in USA, Canada and Mexico.
The winners from the African playoff will be joined by Bolivia, New Caledonia and two teams from Central America, and one from Asia
