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Eritrea, the homeland of Alexander Isak, might just become the unseen reason the Super Eagles qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Soccernet.ng reports.
Earlier, Eritrea withdrew from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, as confirmed by FIFA in 2023, reducing the number of teams in Group E to five: Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania, and Niger.
Meanwhile, the East African country may not be competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, but its absence could impact Nigeria’s route to the tournament. Interestingly, the small African nation also happens to be the ancestral home of Liverpool’s striker.
Eritrea’s withdrawal has disrupted the balance of the CAF qualifying format, which creates a situation that could indirectly favour the Super Eagles as they chase one of Africa’s limited World Cup spots. Eritrea pulled out of Group E before the CAF qualifiers began, leaving that group with only five teams, while the other eight groups have six. To maintain fairness when ranking the best second-placed teams, as previously done in 2012, CAF is expected to exclude results against bottom-placed teams in the six-team groups.
If that rule is confirmed, Nigeria could benefit. The Super Eagles have dropped valuable points against lower-ranked teams like Zimbabwe and Lesotho, which means that the exclusion of those results would hurt them less than other teams that beat those sides comfortably.
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After eight matches, Nigeria sit third in Group C behind Benin and South Africa, with 11 points. The Super Eagles have struggled for consistency, having drawn Zimbabwe and Lesotho in their first meetings, while their only defeats came against Benin and South Africa.
With two matches left, away against Lesotho and at home against Benin, Nigeria must win both to stand a realistic chance of topping the group or staying alive in the playoff race.
Only the four best second-placed teams across the nine groups will advance to the CAF playoff stage, which could then lead to an intercontinental playoff.
Currently, Nigeria sits far behind Gabon, Madagascar, DR Congo, and Burkina Faso. That position could improve depending on the results of other groups and whether CAF applies the rule to disregard points against the last-placed teams.
This adjustment could actually play in Nigeria’s favour. The Super Eagles drew both matches against Zimbabwe and have taken only one point from their first meeting with Lesotho. What this means is that they would lose fewer points under the exclusion rule.
