By VICTOR OKOYE

The Super Eagles have been presented with an earlier opportunity to avenge their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying defeat to the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan in June.

This followed the pairing of both teams again in the same group in the race for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations that begins in two months’ time.

Their FIFA World Cup qualifying reverse fixture is not until the final day of the qualification series Oct. 6 to 14 2025.

Both teams have much earlier battles to fight later this year as they aim to be among the 24 countries that will participate in the Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for Morocco, Dec. 21, 2025, to Jan. 18, 2026.

At the draw ceremony conducted inside the SuperSport studio in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday, the Super Eagles also drew the Amavubi of Rwanda – another team in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying group.

Eagles will next play Rwanda in the series in March 2025 as well as the Mediterranean Knights of Libya. All four teams are in Group D.

The six-match qualifying series have been spread over the FIFA windows in September, October and November, with two matches in each seven-day window.

Group A: Tunisia, Madagascar, Comoros, The Gambia

Group B: Morocco, Gabon, Central African Republic, Lesotho

Group C: Egypt, Cape Verde, Mauritania, Botswana

Group D: Nigeria, Benin Republic, Libya, Rwanda

Group E: Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Liberia

Group F: Ghana, Angola, Sudan, Niger Republic

Group G: Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Chad

Group H: DR Congo, Guinea, Tanzania, Ethiopia

Group I: Mali, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Eswatini

Group J: Cameroon, Namibia, Kenya, Zimbabwe

Group K: South Africa, Uganda, Congo, South Sudan

Group L: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Burundi. (NAN)

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