By Amah
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The Super Eagles, Nigeria’s senior male football team will tackle Gabon in the semi-finals of the African section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup play-offs in Morocco.
This follows the conclusion of the qualifying group matches on Tuesday where Nigeria failed to book automatic ticket after coming second behind South Africa.
The team had trounced Benin 4-0 in their final match at Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, the Always Ibom State capital.
Gabon booked their place in the playoffs after overcoming Burundi 2-0 to come second in Group F with.
DR Congo also beat Sudan 1-0 to finish runners-up in Group B behind Senegal while Cameroon defeated Cape Verde to emerge as runners up in Group D.
The four best runners-up from the nine African qualifying groups will take part in the play-offs slated to hold from November 13 to 16.
Apart from the Super Eagles and Gabon, the other teams are Cameroon and and DR Congo.
According to the schedule, the semi-finals will be played on November 13, 2025, with Nigeria confronting Gabon while Cameroon will clash with DR Congo in the other semi-final on the same day.
The winners of both encounters will advance to the final, slated for November 16, 2025, also in Morocco.
The two winners will face each other in the final duel for the remaining African slot three days later on November 16.
The overall winner will then proceed to the inter-confederation play-offs in March 2026 for a chance to qualify for the World Cup finals jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
All nine African group winners have already qualified directly for next year’s finals, while the play-offs is to determine whether the continent can grab one more representative through the inter-continental route.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup football fiesta is the largest in the tournament’s history, featuring is 48 teams.
Nigeria would be making their seventh World Cup appearance if the scale the hurdle.
