Nigeria’s defensive midfielder, Frank Onyeka has revealed the country’s determination to get their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign back on track against South Africa and Benin next month.
The Super Eagles are looking to turn over a new leaf under Finidi George after getting off to a disappointing start in Group C with successive 1-1 draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
Jose Peseiro oversaw the first two matches and vacated his post after guiding the team to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final, with assistant coach George eventually named his permanent successor last month.
Onyeka, who played a key role in the country’s run to the AFCON 2023 final, believes the appointment of George as head coach can only benefit the squad and insists they are looking to make amends against Bafana Bafana and the Cheetahs.
“He’s a good coach, good guy, he helped the players during the AFCON and now he’s been appointed as the coach, so I guess everyone is happy,” the Brentford midfielder told local journalists in an interview.
“In all seriousness, we have to go to that game [against South Africa] with everything because of what it means to us and to the country. Two points from two games is not good, so we need to win our next two games. We’ll give everything and be ready for it.”
Nigeria will come up against a familiar face in Gernot Rohr, who held the reins of the national team for a record five years between 2016 and 2021 but is now in charge of Benin.
“We know Gernot Rohr and it’s not going to be easy,” Onyeka added. “The teams in Africa are not easy to play against, so we’ll go with all seriousness in the hope that we get the win.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has backed the Super Eagles to continue the country’s dominance over South Africa.
This comes after the Super Falcons of Nigeria qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris after defeating South Africa’s Banyana Banyana 1-0 on aggregate recently.
The NFF has now revealed that the Super Eagles will host Bafana at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Friday, 7th June in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
“Exactly four months after they were bumped and relegated to the third-place match of the Africa Cup of Nations by the Super Eagles, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana are in jitters as they will come up against the three-time African champions again, in a crucial 2026 World Cup qualifying match in Uyo,” an NFF statement read.
“Only recently, the Super Falcons pushed the Banyana Banyana, reigning African champions, off the bus to this year’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, instead grabbing the ticket to make sure of a first appearance at the glamour tournament for the first time in 16 years.
“The assured manner of Nigeria’s victories in the two fixtures have left the hierarchy of South African football flummoxed, and there is no adequate time to recover or rejig strategies before the Bafana Bafana come up against the Super Eagles in a Day 3 encounter of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying series at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Friday, 7th June.
“With two points from their previous two matches, but aware of the hold they have over the Bafana Bafana, the African vice-champions are confident of the three points on the day, which could see them fly to the top of the pool.”