Former Nigerian winger, Tijani Babangida has called on the Super Eagles not to focus their attention on South Africa and Benin Republic alone in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The three-time African champions will have to navigate tricky clashes with tough rivals, South Africa, Benin Republic, now coached by Gernot Rohr, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Rwanda in Group C.

The teams were paired during the preliminary draws held organized by Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Super Eagles, who missed out on the Qatar World Cup will begin the hunt for world cup glory in games that will take place over ten watch-ways during the next two years.

However, in a chat with Completesports.com, Babangida stated that South Africa and Benin won’t be of bigger problems for the Super Eagle.

He warned that the other opponents should be of major priority to the Nigeria if they are to navigate their way to the 2026 World Cup.

“This is a tough draw for the Nigeria but I still believe the Super Eagles will qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Facing difficult opponents like South Africa, Benin Republic, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Rwanda in Group C even makes it more tougher.

“However, I will advise the Super Eagles not to pay attention on South Africa and Benin alone because the other teams are capable of acting as spoiler if not taking seriously.”

The nine groups will play in a home and away, round-robin, format with each of the group winners qualifying automatically for the FIFA World Cup.

The four best group runners-up will then compete in a play-off stage to determine CAF’s representative at the FIFA play-off tournament.

Read Also:https://www.completesports.com/exclusive-south-africa-benin-wont-give-eagles-tough-headache-in-2026-wcq-babangida/