Super Eagles in-form striker, Ademola Lookman, Kelechi Iheanacho and Bundesliga rookie of the year, Victor Boniface are highly favoured to lead the attacking line of the three-time African champions against Bafana Bafana of South Africa in tonight’s 2026 World Cup qualifying series Day 3 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
The Super Eagles know nothing but victory will assuage the feelings of football-passionate Nigerians, who are still unhappy at their sluggish start to the campaign.
Finidi, in his competitive match in charge of Nigeria, is most likely to throw the experienced Kelechi Iheanacho and youngsters Victor Boniface and Ademola Lookman into the fore with the objective of getting the goals early enough on, on a turf that Nigeria has lost only one competitive game since it was opened 10 years ago.
Speaking before tonight’s crucial match, captain Wilfred Ndidi said that the three-time African champions will give their very best on Friday evening.
“Nobody needs to tell us that we didn’t start the campaign well enough. The opportunity has arisen to take our fate in our hands and rise to strong contention in our pool. We will approach Friday’s encounter with the right mental attitude.”
Lookman, who became only the sixth man in history to score a hat-trick in a European Cup final when he led Atalanta of Italy to victory in Dublin on 22nd May, is in a great form to continue where he left off after the Africa Cup of Nations, where he netted three crucial goals to steer Nigeria to a second-place finish.
He also netted an important winner for the Eagles against Ghana in a friendly in Morocco three months ago, which helped Nigeria to a first triumph over Ghana in 18 years.
Boniface also had a marvelous season, winning the German League and Cup double with Bayer Leverkusen and reaching the Europa Cup final, where Lookman was the big obstacle.
The Eagles will enter the pitch on Friday night recalling that South Africa has mostly been second best against them, and that their last encounter, in the semi-final of the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, ended in a penalty shootout victory for Nigeria.
