The Super Eagles of Nigeria have been drawn in Group C alongside Cape Verde, Liberia and Central Africa Republic, in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Completesports.com reports.
The draw was held today (Tuesday) at the Carlton Hotel in Cairo, Egypt.
African champions Algeria are in Group A Burkina Faso, Niger Republic and Djibouti.
In Group B, Tunisia, Zambia, Mauritania amd Equatorial Guinea will slug it out.
Group D which could be described as a tough group has heavyweights Cote D’Ivoire and Cameroon who are joined by Mozambique and Malawi.
Another tough group is Group G that has Ghana and South who will also face Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
The 14 winners from the First Round will joined Africa’s top-ranked 26 sides in the draw.
The 40 teams were split into 10 groups of four for the second qualifying round.
The 10 winners of the groups will be drawn against each other in home and away fixtures, with the five victors advancing to Qatar 2022.
The qualifiers will kick-off in October 2020.
CAF 2022 World Cup qualifying groups:
Group A
Algeria
Burkina Faso
Niger Republic
Djibouti
Group B
Tunisia
Zambia
Mauritania
Equatorial Guinea
Group C
Nigeria
Cape Verde
Liberia
Central Africa Republic
Group D
Cameroon
Cote d’Ivoire
Mozambique
Malawi
Group E
Mali
Uganda
Kenya
Rwanda
Group F
Egypt
Gabon
Libya
Angola
Group G
Ghana
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Ethiopia
Group H
Senegal
Congo
Namibia
Togo
Group I
Morocco
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Sudan
Group J
DR Congo
Benin Republic
Madagascar
Tanzania
By James Agberebi
44 Comments
We can play u23s and qualify, it’s the final round that is tricky
Na lie ooo! Joke with Cape Verde at your peril. We must be ready & at our best! Na so we talk about Madagascar!!
Which U-23? The one from AMOKPANONSENCE?
The final round may not be difficult,for example in Tunisian group I think Zambia will qualify ahead of them also if Dr Congo and Mali qualify from their respective groups ,I think we can take on any of them easily.
Its like you dont know that WCQ comes with a different spirit.
This was exactly what Mr Bitrus Bewerang was talking about….complacency and lack of respect for opponents. And I wont be surprised if this same attitude trickles down to the NFF.
2002 readily comes to mind, Liberia defeated us 2-1 in Monrovia and Seirra leone defeated us 1-0 in Freetown and in 2006, Angola defeated us in Luanda and pulled a draw in Kano
This shouldn’t be much of a problem. I even think we have a stronger team now than we did in 2016 when the qualifiers for Russia 2018 began. And if we could come out of the very tough group then, this shouldn’t be a problem at all.
All we need to do is to win all our home matches, win one away and get another away draw. We will be cool.
My major concern is that final round. Chai! The tension that comes with such matches is crippling. I just don’t like the feeling. CAF should just have stuck to the format used in Russia 2018 qualifiers. But I strongly believe we can make it to Qatar. Up Super Eagles.
What a weak group! We should wrap this up quickly with max points from the first 4 games and then let the fringe players execute the rest games. Can CAF fast forward the next round please!!?? This first round looks boring on paper!
Lol, don’t mind my overconfidence jare. Just joking around.
But wait o, so either of Camerouun or Cote D’Ivoire will not qualify? Tunisia or Zambia will be out by first round? (another heartbreak for Zambia?) Ghana or SA will drop? Morroco & Guinea? Mali & Uganda? DR Congo & Madagascar? Maaadddd ooohhh! Many past World Cup participants in same groups
There are surely going to be testy mathes. I’m rubbing my palms and smacking my lips in delight and anticipation. Let the rumble begin!!!
There’ll be plenty of fireworks in group G, while group J is anybody’s for the taking.
If we take our opponents seriously, we can wrap things up by the 4th matchday and play the fringe player just as @ Kel said.
This is really good for the SuperEagles. However, we mustn’t take cape Verde for granted. I expect the SuperEagles under Rohr I don’t know of any other coach oo, to be able to navigate this group any way possible. My biggest fear is the final round between the 10 group winners. That will be a lot trickier, but by that time SuperEagles would’ve been battle tested and ready for the challenge. Now our team is more experienced than the Russia 2018 team. It won’t be a walk in the park however, I expect my SuperEagles to make it all the way. #FLY LIKE AN EAGLE INTO THE FUTURE# SUPEREAGLES ALL THE WAY.
Nice group for Nigeria but my fear is, will NFF renew the contract of Gernot Rohr? Because with Rohr leading that team through this qualifiers, I’m 100% sure that Nigeria will make to Qatar but if the they play politics with it and give it to someone else, I doubt our qualification o….
We must not underestimate any team, early preparation, quality friendly matches would help, this’s home and away matches, folks anything can happen, Ethiopia just beat Ivory Coast in adidas some few months ego. Rohr and is troops can’t take brooms to this war, we need our guns blazing.
In our group, Cape Verde is the team that made me almost spill my coffee. Tension done start already. But we should be ok. In our group, if we are serious, we should win every match home and away. The wahala on ground is in the final round. Imagine us playing any of Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, CIV, Morocco or Egypt for a ticket! However, the good thing is that as we fear them, so they fear us.
Hmmmm, NFF, RENEW ROHR’S CONTRACT ASAP SO THE GUY CAN START WORK IN EARNEST. We no wan hear story oooo!
Algeria should qualify easily from group A. No ifs, ands, or buts. Group B will be a straight fight between Tunisia and Zambia, with Tunisia having the edge. Nigeria should emerge from group C. If we don’t, we have no business going to Qatar anyway, so no harm done. Group D is a fight to finish between Cameroon and CIV. Group E, Mali should take that one, but watch out for Uganda. Kenya and Rwanda could also pull a surprise. Group F – Aubameyang is desperate for world cup action, but Egypt should be too tall a mountain to climb. Egypt all the way. Group G is the group of death. All the teams can make it. Who wants it more? Senegal should be comfortable in group H. Morocco looking good in group I, but watch out for Naby Keita and Guinea! Finally, group J. If Madagascar play like they did at the Afcon 2019, DR Congo and Benin will have their work cut out. The second toughest group in my opinion, behind group G.
I expect the following teams to make it to the final round:
Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria, CIV, Mali, Egypt, South Africa, Senegal, Morocco and Benin.
It is at this point that Nigeria will need to proceed WITH EXTREME CAUTION.
Burkinafaso has a very strong team and can compete with top sides in the continent as well Niger.I know you are rating Algeria based on the strength of the recent nations cup.
In my opinion the location of the nations cup played a part for that cup glory because virtually every game played by the champions was more or less a home game but this time around it’s a different competition played in a home and away basis which favours both sides.
Do not get me wrong Algeria is a good side with couple of world cup players but the group is not a taken.My take.
World class i meant
Yes Greenturf, the Burkinabe have a strong team, and they are even better than they were in 2013 when we beat them to win the Afcon. However, the Fennecs are not ranked number 1 in Africa for nothing. Even if you belittle their Afcon success, and chose to ignore the swashbuckling football they played to achieve it, surely their 3-0 demolition of Colombia recently highlights just how much progress they have made. Underrate Algeria at your peril!
we wouldn’t have prayed for a better draw. eagles have landed
The way it usually goes in the pairings of the final round is based in rankings. This means when we qualify (as we should) then we will be in the top half thus avoiding any of the top five remaining teams. This is how we drew Ethiopia en route to Brazil in 2014.
Bottomline is fear not, we shall be in Qatar with all things being equal
Hmmm, that makes me breathe a little easier. However, wahala still dey. Likely, the top half will be Algeria, Senegal, Nigeria, Tunisia and Egypt. So our potential final round opponent will be one of CIV, Mali, South Africa, Benin and Morocco. We should qualify, but it will not be a cake walk! We have to fight hard to be in Qatar!
Of course na. Its world cup qualifying, its not supposed to be easy.
Monsieur Pompei
You don’t think Madagascar is a threat? You consider their victory against Nigeria in Egypt a fluke?
Monsieur Achi,
Apologies for the late reply. Madagascar is definitely a threat! After what they achieved at the last Afcon, to write them off is to live in a fool’s paradise. However, I think Benin have what it takes to win group J. This is why I excluded the Berea from my final round list.
If Rohr is retained and allowed to do his job without forcing home based players down his throat i see super eagles winning at least five of their six games in the group stages.
The final stages wont be much of a problem because we would avoid the top four sides in Africa making it less of a worry.
Mind you this qualifiers are funny the teams you are expecting to make it out of the groups may come out astonishingly different,so just stay calm and enjoy all the surprises.
End of the day some teams in pot three may top their groups ahead of their more decorated opponents,do not be surprise a team from pot four qualifies for the final stages too,this potentially will hand the world cup ticket to us in a platter of gold because super eagles under Rohr are very professional in managing games.
It doesn’t matter what opponents they are up against the lads and gaffer gives professional services which has been standards.Playing at optimal levels and getting job done at both home and away not looking for draws at away games as the case with our previous domestic coaches and hoping to win at home which doesn’t happen all the time.But with Rohr it’s victory away as well home that’s the reason we qualify with games to spare under this good German gaffer.
So sit relax and enjoy while it lasts but pray he’s allowed to do his job without unnecessary distractions from the NFF and our legend Odegbami and co.
@greenturf
There are two notable take-home messages in your write-up, which incidentally recognise the law of incremental progress. Many people are oblivious of this law and continue to run in circles for ever, achieving virtually nothing in life.
“…….under Rohr are very professional in MANAGING games …”
“…..playing at OPTIMAL levels and getting (the) job done …”
Some people think that success at anything is mere wish. Not so. Manage yourself and play at optimal levels, … and look forward to CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT (third element)
Correct @Achi.Thanks
Will we have a plan B?
A world cup qualifying draw seen favourable to the Super might turn out to be anything but if the national team handlers make the mistake of thinking they can simply coast through this round of qualifiers.
On paper, Cape Verde, Liberia and Central Africa Republic should not be strong enough to stand in the way of the Super Eagles marching to the next round. But football is played on the pitch, not on paper.
A Super Eagles squad boasting of world class players like Obafemi Martins were meant to make light work of Mozambique in the 2010 world cup qualifiers but an away draw put qualification in peril until the very last round of matches in which the same Mozambique did us a massive favour by shockingly defeating frontrunners Tunisia thereby gifting us world cup qualification.
Only recently, Benin and Lesotho proved that with minimal effort, the Super Eagles’ defence can be breached. This is a theme that needs addressing because, whilst the brilliance of our players allowed us to claw our way back into those matches, we should not expect to always be that lucky – regardless of our opponents’ calibre.
For all the progress that we have made in recent years under Gernot Rohr, two recent themes worry me: 1) drawing matches from a winning position (against Ukraine and Brazil) and 2) letting goals in early only to try to use individual brilliance to claw our way back into the match (in afcon qualifiers).
Getting too carried away; thinking we are invincible; underestimating our opponents; rigid tactics, these are just some variables to be avoided if we are to make progress in this round of qualifiers.
Be in no doubt, games against the Super Eagles are the games of the other teams’ lives. They will give sweat, tears and blood to squeeze favourable results from these matches – a draw will seem like a win for some of them!
In Rohr, we have a brilliant coach but one that seldom seems to have an in-game plan B when things aren’t going so well.
We – Super Eagles fans – see our team’s strengths. Our opponents are looking for our team’s weaknesses.
It’s not whether they find it is the problem; it is how our coach will respond that is a matter of mild concern.
Poor analysis
Perfection is far from football, you complain of drawing against Ukraine and Brazil…we conceded just like we scored against these teams, whatever be the case football is about three outcome
Draw
Win
Defeat.
No team is to be underrated, however to some extent we r confident. Call a national team who will beat her chest that she’s 100% confident..
All of these permutations never seem to work for us. I suggest we take each game as they come very seriously as if it’s world cup finals. This is how we always surprise the world. That being said, I trust this SE team under Rohr.
For those who are only good at singing Rohr’s praises,you all should be honest enough to tell him areas that needs improvement in the team.
He has done well but not very well ooh as you all are sounding, for example the team needs a solid bench. Who will replace osihme, Iwobi and the full-back position? Under Rohr replacement for osihme is onuachu,is he capable? have Rohr repented? Iwobi don’t have back up, we only have aina and awaziem as full back, jamilu Collins is not consistent. This are the issues to be discussed not always praise singing.
@Goal
Simply put, “We would cross the bridge when we get there”.
Right now,it’s still early days to access who is going to play through the qualifiers or not.
Yes we have a decent idea of our team, but anything can happen in the days ahead; players can lose form, other players can step up etc.
We should be excited that right now we got a decent pool of players to chose from no matter what comes our way.
To answer your question about back up, I think the back up already fixed themselves.
The good thing about the stable of players we have right now is that most of them are flexible to positions and could play well out of position.
Aina has been a good stand in for Collins, Awaziem has done well covering for Shehu,Ebuehi ,not forgetting Moses Simon and Samuel Kalu has played as wing backs also. It all depends on the formation set up by the coach.
Even at that, if things goes as plan, we could get a Saka as cover for the left back position. He is doing good in the position for Arsenal.
As for Iwobi, he necessarily doesn’t need a back up of we don’t have one. We play according to the calibre of players available at our disposal.that is where the tactical onus of the coach comes in. We could set up with an Aribo,Ndidi and Etebo in midfield, with Aribo more ahead and playing as the Creative mind and Etebo being the box to box . OR
we could simply play through the wings like Liverpool does, with our full backs given the licence to maraud forward (more like a 4-2-4).with Ndidi and Aribo/Etebo holding the midfield. And Iheanacho playing together upfront with Osimhen, with Iheanacho being the more withdrawn striker in the pair.(I prefer this at home matches).
OR.
If things goes our way,and we get to get Ejaria over to us, that would be a decent replacement for Iwobi; they play similarly.
And as for Osimhen backup, please,we got quite a pool; Dessers, Maja, Umar, Iheanacho, etc. Take your pick. As for Rohr sticking with Onuachu, that is his prerogative, and as I said, we really don’t know who would be in form by then, we just hope they all maintain the good form they are in or even get better. But by Rohr’s past antecedents, although he is rigid and slow to changes in personal, he is not afraid to wade the stick when the time comes, ask Iheanacho and Balogun. I think Onuachu days are numbered. Let’s just see how it goes.
Most do not praise Rohr for Praise sake or being a fanatic.. I think most stick to him cause he gets the results. We might not like his style,but results is all that matters. He has only lost to 4 African side home,away and friendly. That speaks volumes.
For that, I stand with Rohr.
What a mature reply from @ Mr Hush, you’re one of the most respected individual here.
RESPECT @Goal
@Glory,it’s not Rohr’s to answer that question of who to replace Iwobi and some of the names you mentioned,rather looking back to how he work’s and obviously standards you can see clearly that his invitations are based on merit and players who are best and are in form prior to games are given invitations.
Rohr can only work with Nigerian players and if clearly their are no player at Osimhen’s level,he can’t lend one from another country rather statistically the best strikers at a particular time are invited same as the midfield defence and goalkeeping positions and this lists can change should anyone on it loses form or a better player emerges.
At the moment Osimhen and Iheanacho are clear favourites to be on the list but in a few months things could change with additions and omissions depending on form.
Meanwhile,Genk’s striker Mbwana Samatta has moved to Aston Villa so Onuachu should lead the line for Genk as it is,hopefully this could help his development.Dessers is another player waiting on the wings,hopefully we get Ejaria too we could do with his talent.
Apparently,we need our best players to be part of this qualifiers and with Rohr you can only expect the best nothing less.
Of course he has his flaws just like everyone else but in a 1-10 rating i shall give him 7.5 .
@ Greenturf I haven’t mentioned anything about Iwobi or Rohr iny post.Lolz
Haha sorry @Glory should have been goal instead!
It’s Rohr’s conservative nature that cost us Eze of QPR, this guy trained with the Super Eagles in London in 2017 and could have played if the friendly match with Burkina Faso was not suspended. What has Rohr done to secure him for us before the guy became famous? He would have been the replacement of Iwobi we are talking about.
So Rohr should force him to play for us or what are you implying exactly? Or was it Rohr that canceled the Burkina Faso friendly? It’s not the duty of Rohr to chase players around, it’s the player natural willingness to represent his Father’s land.
Rohr didn’t invite him again because his quality wasn’t good enough for the super eagles.We can’t be inviting so many foreign players of Nigerian decent and capping them just to own them that would be rather a strange thing to do,unless they are good enough for the national team.
If he’s desirous to play for Nigeria he would have bid his time.
Maja and Ola Aina were also part of that camp. What did Rohr do to secure them…? Or you think they too don’t “feel English”..?
The list for Sierra Leone and Lesotho was delayed because of Eze. But he prefered to go sit on the England U21 bench rather than play for the senior team of Nigeria. What else do you want the coach to do….to go and prostrate before his grandson’s mate because he is Cristiano Messi…?
If he had called him up before he hit the limelight, same critics will accuse him the way Viv-Otabor’s invitation in September generated uproar. If he had called him up earlier when the likes of Mikel and Ogu where still very much around and there is no space for him in the team, same critics would still have questioned the rationale behind the invitation.
Some people sure loves the coach’s job more than him. Lolz
For those who are only good at insulting and destructively criticizing Rohr,you all should be honest to tell yourself that in the last 3 years, the super eagles has not struggled simply bcos one person was absent from the team or because another person lost form.
The SE in the last few years have operated more as a team and have displayed excellent flexibility whenever needed.
We have at different times played 4321, 433, 442 or 352 whenever it is need with awesome results to show for it…..15 qualifiers, 11 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss.
We started with Ideye-Iheanacho combo, shifted to Moses-Moses double offer, before Ighalo-Musa partnership and now Osimhen-Chuks. SE today is like Onyigbo market. The much maligned Onuachu may find his feet finally in the national team and start firing from all cylinders neither has the likes of iheanacho, Ahmed Musa, Kalu, Chukwueze, Simon and even the Muda Lawal-esque Aribo been shy of scoring or creating chances when the opportunity presents itself. Let’s not even talk about the likes of Maja, Dennis, Dessers, Simy, Sadiq and the rest who are waiting in the wings. If Osimhen stops scoring today, someone else will take over and get the job done.
In defense, Awaziem has stepped in comfortably as a right back when called upon and even seem better at right back than at centre back. On the left, Aina as been as good a cover as being a de facto leftback. Not forgetting Collins who is growing into the role by the day and has already weighed in 3 assists in 13 matches so far. That is not to say Brian Idowu would reject a call up if he’s needed now will Shehu Abdullahi.
There are no issues here…unless they (critics) just want to criticize for nothing as usual. Otherwise, there has always been a pool of 35 players who can get called up at anytime and GET THE JOB DONE.
According to you oga Rohr is perfect and needs no improvement, isn’t it? Did he pay you to always jump to defend him? Anyway…. everything good man.
congratulations S.E..is lil favourable Group..one day w
ill be inbw d sticks to represent my dear country Nigeria..pls if dey is any serious agent that’s ready to work with me n revive my professional career as goalkeeper..contact [email protected]
Nigeria cannot meet SENEGAL, TUNISIA, ALGERIA, MOROCCO….. They are all top seed….. If they make it to next stage it will be the 4 of them plus NIGERIA classified as top seed hence they cant face each other….. Expect teams like GHANA, EGYPT, (CAMEROON/IVORY COAST)…..