The Super Eagles of Nigeria have been presented with an earlier opportunity to avenge their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying defeat to the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan in June.

This followed the pairing of both teams again in the same group in the race for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) that begins in two months’ time.

Their FIFA World Cup qualifying reverse fixture is not until the final day of the qualification series from October 6 to 14, 2025.

Both teams have much earlier battles to fight later this year as they aim to be among the 24 countries that will participate in AFCON scheduled for Morocco between December 21, 2025, and January 18, 2026.

At the draw ceremony conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday, July 4, 2024, the Super Eagles also drew the Amavubi of Rwanda – another team in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying group.

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Nigeria will play Rwanda in March 2025 as well as the Mediterranean Knights of Libya. All the four teams are in Group D.

The six-match qualifying series have been spread over the FIFA windows in September, October, and November, with two matches in each seven-day window.

See the AFCON 2025 qualifying draw below:

Group A: Tunisia, Madagascar, Comoros, Gambia

Group B: Morocco, Gabon, Central African Republic, Lesotho

Group C: Egypt, Cape Verde, Mauritania, Botswana

Group D: Nigeria, Benin Republic, Libya, Rwanda

Group E: Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Liberia

Group F: Ghana, Angola, Sudan, Niger Republic

Group G: Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Chad

Group H: DR Congo, Guinea, Tanzania, Ethiopia

Group I: Mali, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Eswatini

Group J: Cameroon, Namibia, Kenya, Zimbabwe

Group K: South Africa, Uganda, Congo, South Sudan

Group L: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Burundi.

The Star