The Super Eagles of Nigeria earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over Rwanda at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium on Saturday to revive their 2026 World Cup hopes.
Eric Chelle dropped captain William Troost-Ekong to the bench with Benjamin Frederick replacing him in the heart of the defence. The trio of Calvin Bassey, Ola Aina, and Bruno Onyemaechi completed the cast in front of Stanley Nwabali.
Wilfred Ndidi was the captain of the team, and was joined in the midfield by Alex Iwobi, and Frank Onyeka while Victor Osimhen led the attack alongside Moses Simon, and Ademola Lookman.
Osimhen thought he had given Nigeria the lead in the eighth minute when he turned in Ademola Lookman’s cross but the goal was ruled out for offside.
The Super Eagles endured a frustrating first 45 minutes as they found it difficult to break down Rwanda, who adopted a defensive approach.
Victor Osimhen limped off in the 35th minute, and was replaced by Cyril Dessers in what was looking like a disappointing afternoon for Nigeria.
Just after the restart, Chelle replaced Frank Onyeka with new Wolves signing Tolu Arokodare, who ended up as the hero.
Arokodare bundled the ball into the net after Ola Aina’s effort was blocked to give Nigeria the lead in the 51st minute.
A few minutes later, Rwanda goalkeeper produced a good save to deny Wilfred Ndidi before denying Moses Simon with another stunning save from his well-taken free-kick in the 75th minute.
The Super Eagles held on to secure a vital victory to revive their World Cup hopes.
The win moves the team up to third on the table with 10 points from seven matches, six points behind table-toppers South Africa, and one behind second-placed Benin Republic.
Up next for Nigeria is a clash against South Africa on Tuesday at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein at 5pm Nigerian time.
In the other matches of the Group played on Friday, South Africa defeated Lesotho 3-0 while Benin Republic edged Zimbabwe 1-0.
