₦airaland Forum

Damn. What a goal. Issa Diop.

Predicted Morocco to win but will prefer Netherlands to go through.

Still hating on Morocco cos of their AFCON shenanigans.

Mujtahida:
You no go understand. My bad belly is especially for Congo, SA and Ghana. Once these three flop, the rest have their fate in their hands whether to advance or not. But those three must come back home.

Add Morocco to the list. Though I think they'll defeat Netherlands

Got my prediction wrong but delighted with the result.

yinkeys:
So FIFA has been cheating African teams
When the WC was 32 teams we used to have just 5 slots
Now that we are in the round of 32 we have 9 slots, wonders shall never end

The way you think ehn. its worrying

TheSuperNerd:
Confirmed Round of 32 Fixtures (Full Matchups)...

Germany v Paraguay

France v Sweden

SA v Canada

Netherlands v Morocco

Portugal v Croatia

Spain v Austria

USA v Bosnia-Herzegovina

Belgium v Senegal

Brazil v Japan

CIV v Norway

Mexico v Ecuador

England v DRC

Argentina v Cape Verde

Australia v Egypt

Switzerland v Algeria

Colombia v Ghana

Germany v Paraguay - Germany
France v Sweden - France
SA v Canada - SA
Netherlands v Morocco - Morocco
Portugal v Croatia - Portugal
Spain v Austria - Spain
USA v Bosnia-Herzegovina - USA
Belgium v Senegal - Senegal
Brazil v Japan - Brazil
CIV v Norway - CIV
Mexico v Ecuador - Mexico
England v DRC - England
Argentina v Cape Verde - Argentina
Australia v Egypt - Egypt
Switzerland v Algeria - Algeria
Colombia v Ghana - Columbia.

I've got six african teams making it into the round of 16. They are South Africa, Morocco, Senegal, CIV, Egypt and Algeria.

yinkeys:
I jus Dey hope for VO9 & Nwabali news sha

Nwabali's clublessness dey worry me.

Next football season go start August. If by the end of July, hin no see club sign am, make hin come back NPFL.

Playing for Enyimba, Rivers United or any other NPFL club is better than being clubless and inactive.

TheSuperNerd:
Noooo... plss by all means, let us apply their logic. World #9 Belgium, a team packed with stars and at full strength failed to beat Iran. It was 0-0. Belgium now drops to #10 in the world after that result.

Nigeria beat same Iran 2-1 without 5-6 of our regular players. So I guess Belgium will be battered 5-0 by Nigeria.

This is why that talk of CV over Nigeria is indeed banal.

Football maths doesn't work. Dem gonna learn

Double post

GrammarNazi1:
Congratulations to Gane!

Gane was doing well against Tom Aspinall before the bout was cancelled.


That was painful.

I really wanted to see Tom's performance after all the Tom hype.

With what I saw in that fight and this fight, Cyril Gane is favourite to win when they eventually fight.

Talking about the fight sef, you know Tom is now being managed by Eddie Hearn and with wetin Eddie dey talk, you sure say that fight go happen this year?

semid4lyfe:
UFC Freedom 250

Justin Gaethje making hos octagon walk now.

Rooting for him.

Justin Gaethje is New UFC Lightweight Champion.

Glad the two I rooted for, Cyril Gane and Justin Gaethje won

My day is getting off to a good start.

UFC Freedom 250

Justin Gaethje making hos octagon walk now.

Rooting for him.

Cyril Gane

New Interim UFC Heavy Weight Champion.

Ajayi should be subbed off

123jamessmith:
I don't have confidence in that Nnadi guy. I'm still not convince. The coach should have started that bewene guy, I think he's better than this Akpan.

Nnadi is playing very well.

charlesemeka85:
he is never confident with the ball on his feet

Fernandez would hv been better

He has never been a ball playing defender.

Na make Benjamin Frederick come back, make e go Ajayi go siddon for bench

Omo, with the way we press and play under Chelle, any team wey go beat us go try gan.

Very good first half.

God bless Eric Sekou Chelle.

Joebie:
Nothing do Okoye there

True

I am not feeling Ajayi and Akpan in defence.

PDPGuy:
Omo, see as Comoros thrash Sudan 30-0! 🤯😂

Abeg, Madugu should adequately prepare our SF against these giants of African football

I am so scared

Predator87:
Madugu success is off the back of Randy Waldrum. All the top players in this team like Alozie, Okoronkwo, Plumptre, Payne, Abiodun etc were introduced by Waldrum. How many young quality players has Madugu integrated into the SF? All he does is invite old mama's like okobi, Ortega, Isah etc. Our bench is rubbish now because of Madugu 419 callups.

Story story, story. Once upon a time, time time.

Trophy score is

Madugu 1
Waldrum 0

Every other thing is irrelevant balderdash.

BascoVanVeli:
We would come here and complain about Waldrum but these same people will say "he has not been paid in so and so months" or "let's wait till the competition is done". Now all of a sudden none of that sheet applies because it's Madugu.

Press their necks brother, press their necks.

opes:
Widely reported figure was €200,000

€200,000 makes it an even bigger margin which only reinforces my point.

charlesemeka85:
💥 BREAKING | Zadok Yohanna to Brighton - DONE DEAL ✔️

Full agreement reached. €28m fixed fee plus €2m in add-ons. Contract until 2031. All done and sealed. Verbal agreement was already reached as excl. revealed.

The 18 y/o talented winger has chosen Brighton despite interest from several other top clubs.

Announcement expected soon. @SkySportDE 🇳🇬

Football na ponzi scheme.

AIK signed Zadok for €750000 in July 2025 and are selling less than a year later for €28m. Very astute business for AIK.

I hope Ikom Allah Football Academy inserted a sell on clause when they sold him to AIK and are benefitting from this deal.

Best of luck and success to our new Super Eagle.

TemporaryHansel:
Shey na Lord Lugard cause this one too? Even if Nigeria is balkanized into 50 different countries, it'll result in 50 failed mini Nigerias. Cursed region.

Clearly staged PR but it is still a learning experience.

TheSuperNerd:
“I'm very happy and very proud to represent my country, Nigeria. I'm ready to give more of this,” Bewene told Ubuntu Pitch.

“When I'm on the pitch, I'm ready to give my all. So, I just forget everything. There are plenty people in my country, I have to make them happy. I have to make myself happy. So, I have to give all.”

#POLNGA "I am ready to give more of this."

A memorable night for Abdullahi Ibrahim Bewene as he made his Super Eagles debut against Poland. 🇳🇬🦅 pic.twitter.com/n24EkBZGoN

— Ubuntu Pitch (@ubuntupitch) June 4, 2026

Abdullahi Bewene post-match tots.

Baller. Very impressive debut. Has a high ceiling and will only get better. I was quite impressed by him.

Our defensive depth is strong everywhere except the left-back.

Na only Bruno we get cos Zaidu Sanusi na minus. Also, I do not like right-footed players playing left-back.

Eric Chelle needs to do more scouting to unearth more players for the left back role.

Nerdy, what's the deal with Sodiq Lawal, the former Beyond Limits player who moved to Sweden early this year? Also, which other Nigerian players are on the horizon that can fill that role?

Papi85:
thank you bros. Even Ndidi was calling on others to close down the before he struck

How on earth will one blame Okoye for that goal?

Not so fast bro. Two truths can co-exist.

1. The players should have closed down the polish player to prevent him from taking that shot

and

2. Okoye should be saving that shot.

TheSuperNerd:
Still the Number 1. Okoye, okay game but conceeding that is a no.

Okoye, good with the reflex saves but off with positioning and still concedes some kinda goals he should be saving.

Watch Poland's 1st goal and see where Okoye was when the ball went in. Baffling.

The 2nd goal too was a long way off. Despite the swerve on the ball, he should be getting fingers on it and preventing the goal.

maidaboi:
looks like we want draw this match

From your mouth to the ears of the football gods

Why didn't anyone close up on that polish player to prevent him from taking the shot?

They were all backing away and gave him so much space abi dem no dey score from that kind distance again?

Disappointed .

Sugarboyy:
How Moses Simon who has been playing professional football for more than a decade still can't put in a decent cross is baffling 🤔

The most annoying part about Moses Simon is his unnecessary holding on to the ball on the wings while backing a defender and trying to shield the ball when he can play a pass or release the ball to a team mate and advance the game.

Its childish, elementary football. It is a fundamental football flaw to play with your back to the opposing post as a winger. It causes traffic, slows the game, kills attacking momentum, allows the opponents to double up and dispossess you.

Rather than hug the touchline to receive the ball when you're being marked, tuck into the middle to receive the ball so you're facing the opponents goal and can advance play.

Gosh, Moses Simon football education is so 1960ish and his football IQ is low. 10 years in the Super Eagles, many years in Europe but still playing like an Otu. It's exasperating.

chrisooblog:
In the short term I think Femi Azeez could be a potential upgrade. His performances against Zimbabwe and Jamaica, albeit weaker opposition give me hope.

Zadok has promise but I would like to see how he does with the u21 and u23s first.

You are right on Femi Azeez. He may not be as skillful and flashy as Zadok but he brings more to the team and is more productive, judging by the eye test.

🔸Azeez delivers better quality passes and crosses.

🔸He is also positionally more versatile and a better fit for multiple tactical formations. He can play on the right, the left or the Lookman role through the middle,

🔸He is ambipedal. You gats watch am closely to know he is naturally left footed cos he uses his right almost as well, kinda like Dembele, unlike Zadok who is too left footed and "elese kan".

🔸It seems he also has better workrate, marks more and covers more ground on the pitch. In modern football, there are no primadonnas. Everyone must mark, press, run, close space, defend corners etc. Shebi we all see how Diego Simeone dey criticize Lookman say hin gats up him workrate? Na so modern football be and Eric Chelle also demands the same workrate from the Super Eagles players.

🔸Lastly, we can argue that Azeez has more professional football under his belt, has had long term exposure to better training, better conditioning, better coaching, and has proven himself in a better, tougher and more competitive league.

Still, I disagree with you on Zadok passing through the U21 and U23. In football if you:re good enough, you're old enough. The coaches of the U_21/U-23 will populate the squads with carpenters who will only pull Zadok down to their level and make him appear like am otu.

Also, there's nothing developmental about our U21 and U23 teams because they only meet occasionally. His development should continue at his European club and he should be invited to the Super Eagles directly based off his performances in AIK. Make hin come play with the big boys to learn one or two.

zoboizee:
It is just to balance the books. He won't even have 5 starts at Brighton. Dude is not EPL quality. He has heavy first touch, not quick enough and he is very light to contest with EPL defenders. Onyekuru that was far better than him didn't make it not to talk of Chukwueze limited appearances at Fulham.

1. I do not think Zadok is that good.

2. The EPL is too much step up in quality from the Swedish league. He will face better and more experienced defenders, better managers, better game play, formations and tactics being deployed by teams to nullify his threat.

3. The guy was basically an amateur footballer in Nigeria about a year ago, and as is typical of home-based players still needs lots of things coached into and out of him.

4. I consider Sweden to EPL as too much of a leap. I'll have preferred Sweden ➡️ Belgium, Sweden ➡️ Netherlands, Sweden ➡️ France, Sweden ➡️ Germany, Sweden ➡️ Spain route for him to develop better as a footballer.

5. The EPL does not develop players. Its a perform or burst league. It will either make or mar him.

Still, as one of ours, I wish him the best and hope he performs well in the league.