World Cup qualifiers: Eagles drop to fifth after Lesotho win

Nigeria will have the chance to topple Lesotho this evening when they take on bitter rivals South Africa

Finidi George and Victor Osimhen

The Super Eagles have dropped from fourth to fifth in Group C of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers without having kicked a ball, after Lesotho stunned Zimbabwe 2-0 away from home in their third game of the group on Friday.

Rethabile Rasethuntsa and Jane Thaba Ntso scored twice in the first half to propel Lesotho from fifth to first place in the table with five points.

Rasethuntsa scored first in the 21st minute, and Ntso followed 10 minutes later. Lesotho’s first win in the series came after a promising start with a 1-1 draw against Nigeria in Uyo last November.

Nigeria will have the chance to topple Lesotho this evening when they take on bitter rivals South Africa in their third game of the series at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo by 8 pm.

The Eagles must, however, win by two goals at least, to stand a chance of leapfrogging Lesotho ahead of their next game against Benin Republic on Monday.

Benin had also beaten Rwanda 1-0 for their first win of the series on Thursday to move to third in the group.

A win for Nigeria against Bafana Bafana will take them to five points, level on points with Lesotho.

After facing Bafana today, the Eagles have another tricky test against the Squirrels in Ivory Coast on Monday while South Africa will play Zimbabwe.

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