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2026 World Cup: Prepare for the worst against South Africa, Okocha tells Eagles

By Our reporter On Jul 16, 2023 0

Austin Okocha has warned Super Eagles to prepare for the worst when they meet in the qualifying series of the 2026 World Cup.

The Eagles were drawn in Group C alongside South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Benin and Rwanda in Thursday’s conducted in Abidjan, Ivory Coast after the Confederation of African Football’s Ordinary General Assembly on Thursday.

Okocha who featured at the World Cups with the Eagles also said the three time African champions who have reached the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup finals on three occasions must take their chances during their qualifying games.

The former PSG player who was among the legends that graced the draw in Abidjan said,”Aside the Eagles, Bafana are about the strongest team in that group and we (Eagles) must be very careful when we play them,” Okocha was quoted as saying.

“We have not had it easy against them recently.

“Morocco showed that an African country could win the World Cup. We must follow the example of Morocco,” he said.

The Atlas Lions of Morocco surprisingly reached the semi-final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar beating countries like Spain and Portugal along the way.

There are six teams in each of the nine groups, with only the group winners guaranteed slots at the expanded FIFA World Cup finals in the summer of 2026.

The best four second-placed teams in the nine groups will then contest a mini-tournament, with the winner eligible for a playoff spot for another slot in USA/Canada/Mexico finals.

Each of the teams will play two of their 10 matches in the campaign in the FIFA window of November this year, with the other eight games to be spread between 2024 and 2025.

The form book suggests that South Africa’s ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be decided by a straight shoot-out between Bafana Bafana and Nigeria’s Super Eagles.

After the Confederation of African Football (CAF) completed the African qualifiers draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Ivory Coast on Thursday evening, South Africa was drawn alongside Nigeria in Group C.

The Group C winner will join the eight other group winners who will embark on the qualifying tournament for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, set to be staged across Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The qualifiers are scheduled to begin with two rounds of matches in November. The final round of matches will be played in October 2025.

A total of 54 African nations were split into nine groups of six. The nine group winners will secure automatic entry to the 2026 World Cup.

However, there will be a chance for a 10th African team. The four best runners-up will go into a CAF play-off tournament, scheduled to be held in November 2025. The winner will advance to the FIFA play-off tournament, in March 2026. It could result in Africa securing a 10th slot at the World Cup.

The other Group C teams are Zimbabwe, Benin, Rwanda and Lesotho. Zimbabwe’s Warriors were given the green light to participate in the World Cup after FIFA lifted the country’s 18-month suspension on Wednesday.

Before the draw, the seeds for the nine groups were decided by the world rankings of the participating countries. The seeded teams were (world rankings in brackets) 1 Morocco (13), 2 Senegal (18), 3 Tunisia (31), 4 Algeria (33), 5 Egypt (34), 6 Nigeria (39), 7 Cameroon (43), 8 Mali (50), 9 Côte d’Ivoire (51).

The world rankings of the Group C teams are 39-Nigeria, 62-South Africa, 93-Benin, 124-Zimbabwe, 139-Rwanda and 152-Lesotho.

The rankings suggest that Nigeria, for many years an African powerhouse, ad South Africa are the major forces in this group. Zimbabwe have been out of action for a while because of the FIFA ban but the team is capable of regrouping a presenting a formidable force when the qualifiers start in November.

The Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana have played 14 times, and South Africa emerged winners only once. Nigeria have won seven times and the rest were drawn. South Africa’s lone win against Nigeria and was in a 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifier in Uyo.

In the World Cup qualifiers, the Super Eagles have played four times against South Africa, winning three and drawing one.

The current Super Eagles will be determined not to miss out again after they failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

Their squad has a talented pool of players who offer a blend of experienced veterans and promising young talents. They have a solid defence, with creative midfielders and clinical strikers. Most of the squad is drawn from European leagues.

A glance at the names of the current squad shows what awaits South Africa. They include Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England), Kevin Akpoguma (TSG Hoffenheim, Germany), Kenneth Omeruo (CD Leganes, Spain), Calvin Bassey (FC Ajax, The Netherlands), Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal), Bruno Onyemaechi (Boavista FC, Portugal), Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England), Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Alex Iwobi (Everton FC, England); Joe Aribo (Southampton, England), Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England), Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal CF, Spain); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Ademola Lookman (Atalanta BC, Italy); Terem Moffi (OGC Nice, France); Victor Osimhen (Napoli FC, Italy) and Paul Onuachu (Southampton FC, England)