The Nigerian national team aims to keep its hopes alive for qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, as it visits Lesotho at 7 PM today, Friday, in a crucial match in the penultimate round of the African qualifiers.

Nigeria currently ranks third in Group 3 with 11 points, behind Benin and South Africa by three points, while Lesotho is fifth with 9 points.

At the same time, in the same group, Benin seeks to take another step towards qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in its history, as it visits Rwanda, which is trying to use home advantage to boost its qualification chances.

Benin leads Group 3 with 14 points, ahead of South Africa who has the same points but is behind on head-to-head results. Nigeria is third with 11 points, ahead of Rwanda in fourth on goal difference.

The 2026 World Cup, which will feature 48 teams for the first time in history, will see nine African teams participating for the first time ever.

The best four second-placed teams from the nine groups will compete in direct knockout matches, with one team qualifying for the intercontinental playoff, hoping to have a tenth African team in the 2026 World Cup.