The coach of South Africa Hugo Broos says his team deserve to be at the 2026 world cup ahead of Nigeria and every other teams in their group, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

South Africa are still in with a chance of making it to the world cup despite dropping to second in the group on goal difference, after they were docked three points, three goals for fielding an ineligible player in Teboho Mokoena in their 2-0 win over Lesotho in March.

New group leaders Benin Republic will be away to Nigeria in their final game of the qualifiers, and Broos says they are still in firm control of qualification from their group as leaders. Something he says they deserve more than any other team in the group.

“No doubt,” he said. “There’s never been doubt that we will qualify. Why should we doubt after we have seen the team’s performance in the last eight games?

“If there’s a team that deserves to go to the World Cup, it is South Africa. There’s never been doubt, and I will stress that to the group when we meet. I believe in the group, and I am sure on Friday they will do everything to win.

“I don’t have to tell you that the next games are historical because South Africa could qualify for the World Cup,” he concluded.

The camp of Zimbabwe have been hit with a scandal ahead of Friday’s world cup qualifiers game against group leaders South Africa, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Zimbabwe will be playing for pride in the game, but a win for them in the game which will be played in South Africa, their adopted home ground will open the door for Nigeria to sneak in with a chance going into the last round of games.

They have however not had the best build up to the game with reports about one of the coaches stepping down from his role, just 48 hours before the game after slapping one of his players.

Reports say Takesure Chiragwi has stepped aside from his Warriors duties after slapping one of his own players (in Ngezi vs Dynamos) live on ZBC Jive TV. Meaning Zimbabwe will be without head coach Michael Nees’ trusted assistant, Chiragwi, on Friday.

However Nees say they will head into the game full of confidence, and give their all despite the setback and the fact that they are no longer in position to qualify for the world cup.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Benjamin Fredrick says he is ready to play in any role he is assigned by head coach Eric Chelle in the Super Eagles upcoming world cup qualifiers games against Lesotho and Benin Republic respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Fredrick made his debut during the last international window holding his own in the heart of the central defence for Nigeria with back to back performance against Rwanda and South Africa respectively.

He formed a formidable partnership with Calvin Bassey over both games, but the return of Semi Ajayi to the team and also a crisis at right back means he could be deployed to the role for the games starting from Friday’s game against Lesotho.

Chelle is said to be considering him as the first choice to fill in for the position in the absence of the established duo of Ola Aina and Bright Osayi-Samuel. Alhassan Yusuf who also played in the role away to Rwanda as a late substitute is not expected in camp until Thursday.

” I am ready to give my all in any role I find myself on the pitch for both club and country. That’s my kind of person because the team comes first”, Fredrick told OwngoalNigeria.com in an exclusive conversation.

” It’s true that I have played at right back with the Nigeria U20 team, Brentford and also my present team Dender. Even though I feel really comfortable as a centre back, the team comes first and I am ready for any role”, he concluded.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Italy Gennaro Gattuso has explained the reason why 17 year old Honest Ahanor wasn’t in his list of players called up for the upcoming world cup qualifiers games against Estonia and Israel respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Ahanor has emerged as the breakout star of the new Serie A season with top notch performances for Atalanta in the Serie A as well as the UEFA Champions League. He joined the team in the summer from fellow Serie A side Genoa, where he made his debut as a 16 year old.

Born to Nigerian parents in Italy, he was largely expected to be in the Italian team for the games with Gattuso keen on bringing in young players to start a new era for the Italian team under his leadership as coach.

He was asked about the absence of the defender and he explained that Ahanor can only play for Nigeria now, because he is yet to be issued an Italian passport. A situation which can only be resolved when he turns 18 per Italian laws for immigrants.

However there is no fear that he will consider playing for Nigeria as he has already given his words to Gattuso that his international future lies with Italy, despite not getting capped at any level yet.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric was left shell shocked when a player turned down the chance to be a part of his squad for the world cup qualifiers games against Lesotho and Benin Republic respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Chelle in his usual practice called the player up for a chat before including him in his squad, but was told by the said player that he is presently nursing an injury and won’t be available for both games.

The coach was however left in a state of shock when the same player, who was expected to provide depth in the defence and can also play in multiple roles played the entire duration of his team’s game over the weekend.

We gathered the player was unhappy with the way he was treated when he was last invited to the team as he didn’t get to play in any of the games. He wasn’t even dressed for one of the games.

” There was a situation with one of the players who rejected the chance to be a part of the team for the upcoming games against Lesotho and Benin Republic respectively. He claimed he was injured but was on for his team for 90 minutes over the weekend”, a team source exclusively revealed.

” Anyway we were later told he was unhappy that he didn’t play in any of the games when he was last invited. The team is a player short partly due to his decision”.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed that Russia based Olakunle Olusegun is likely to be unavailable for the team in Friday’s world cup qualifiers game against Lesotho, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

NFF said the 23 old who plays as a right-back for Russian club Pari Nizhny Novgorod on loan from Krasnodar is yet to be issued entry visa into South Africa, where the game will be played.

According to the report he is likely to miss out on the game, meaning head coach Eric Chelle will prosecute the game with 21 players as against 22 following the decision not to replace Felix Agu who was ruled out of the game with an injury.

The duo of FC Porto Zaidu Sanusi and Uche Chrisantus of English Premier League side Crystal Palace where called up as replacement for the injured duo of Bright Osayi-Samuel and Cyriel Dessers respectively.

Among the players still expected ahead of the game is the duo of Alhassan Yusuf who plays in the United States of America, and will arrive on Thursday. The duo of newly invited Jerome Akor and Zaidu are expected in camp today.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

As many as 17 players of the senior national team of Nigeria are already in the camp of the team ahead of today’s first training session in preparation for Friday’s game against Lesotho in the world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

They will have their first training session by 6pm later today under the guidance of head coach Eric Chelle and his assistants, who arrived in South Africa yesterday ahead of the game.

Although seven of the players won’t be readily available due to entry visa issues. A substantial number is already in camp for today’s first training session.

Top striker Victor Osimhen is already in camp alongside other senior players like Moses Simon, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and the captain William Troost-Ekong.

Below is the list of players available for today’s training.

Troost Ekong, Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, Chrisantus Uche, Wilfred Ndidi, Bruno Onyemaechi, Terem Moffi, Moses Simon, Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi, Samuel Chukwueze, Frank Onyeka, Tolu Arokodare, Semi Ajayi, Stanley Nwabali, Adebayo Adeleye, Amas Obasogie.

Group C of the 2026 world cup qualifiers is probably the only group where three teams go into the final round of games with the hope of finishing top and book a place at the tournament in USA, Mexico and Canada.

Nigeria who are in third place will face Benin Republic who are top in the group in their final game. They are presently three points behind going into the final two games.

Second place South Africa who were favourite until losing three points for fielding an ineligible player against Lesotho in March, are joint top and separated by goal difference from Benin.

All three teams head into the final round of games with certain concerns about their team with Nigeria top of it all with as many as seven players facing difficulties in securing entry visa into South Africa, where they will be up against Lesotho on Friday.

The situation will disrupt preparation for the very important game as the affected players will only be available for one training session before the game.

South Africa will also go into the games with a huge worry with midfield star Relebohile Mofokeng set to miss both games, as confirmed by head coach Hugo Broos who has already named his replacement.

Hugo Broos confirmed that Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Mduduzi Shabalala has been called up as Mofokeng’s replacement.

“We replaced him with Shabalala. Second, there are two players who have not arrived because they played yesterday , that’s (Lyle) Foster and (Sphephelo) Sithole. They will arrive tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, and in the afternoon, we will be complete,” said Broos.

Meanwhile for table toppers Benin Republic, the coach Gernot Rohr is worried over his team’s lack of discipline which has put nine players on the edge of missing the all important game against Nigeria in Uyo.

The players on the edge are Sessi d’Almeida, Yohan Roche, Jodel Dossou, Rodrigue Kossi, Mohamed Tijani, Samadou Attidjikou, Imourane Hassane, Junior Olaitan and Cédric Hountondji.

“If a player is suspended for a protest or a bad-tempered gesture, he will face a fine,” Rohr warned.

“Above all, we are very strict. We don’t want to be affected by this kind of lack of discipline.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

New Super Eagles defender Benjamin Fredrick will play as the right back for the senior national team in the world cup qualifiers games against Lesotho and Benin Republic respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Fredrick who is on loan to Dender of Belgium from English Premier League side Brentford is not new to playing in that role, and he is the top pick of head coach Eric Chelle in the absence of the duo of Ola Aina and Bright Osayi-Samuel through injury.

Chelle picked the 20 year old to play a different role from his accustomed centre back position, because he has shown his ability to hold his own in that role this season in Belgium.

Since joining Dender on loan, he has only played as a centre back three times in the ten games he has played. He played four games as a right wing back and three as a right full back.

His deployment to right back means the duo of Semi Ajayi and Calvin Bassey will continue their partnership in the heart of the defence for Nigeria, with Zaidu Sanusi who was a late call up in pole position to play as left back.

Captain William Troost-Ekong will be back up on the bench, while Bruno Onyemaechi is highly under consideration to play against Lesotho but not for the final game of the series against Benin Republic because he is suspect defensively.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle will make some changes to the defence of the team for the world cup qualifiers game against Lesotho on Friday, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Chelle has already mapped out how he wants his defence to look like for the game, which they hope to win with a huge scoreline to put themselves in a good position in the event that any of the two teams ahead of them in the group in Benin Republic and South Africa slips.

Despite the emphasis and commitment to go all out in search of goals, the coach is also aware that his defence must be at it’s best not to concede as well, judging by the fact that goal difference is the first tie breaker in the qualifiers.

We can exclusively reveal that central defender Semi Ajayi is in contention to start in the heart of the defence alongside Benjamin Fredrick, who impressed during the last round of games last month.

Calvin Bassey, who levelled for the team in the 1-1 draw against South Africa will start as the left back, but with the return of Zaidu Sanusi as a late replacement for the injured Felix Agu. There is the likelihood of the FC Porto man starting.

If he does start, it means Semi Ajayi will drop to the bench for the duo of Bassey and Fredrick to continue their partnership in the heart of the Nigerian defence.

Meanwhile Fredrick is now the top option to operate as a right full back with the duo of Ola Aina and Bright Osayi-Samuel missing through injury. If he starts Bassey will pair Ajayi at centre back with Zaidu taking up the slot as the left back.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman