THE Super Eagles have fallen by eight places in the latest FIFA rankings, moving to 38th globally following a dismal outing in the race for the 2026 World Cup. Nigeria lost to the Benin Republic for the first time and had before then drawn South Africa – all games in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers for Africa – leaving their hopes of reaching the competition hanging in the balance. In FIFA’s latest ranking released on Thursday, the Super Eagles are now 5th in Africa, falling two steps behind on the continental pecking order. Morocco moved up one place as the…
Author: Peter Noah KC
THE Nigeria Football Federation has described as outright falsehood, reports in some online publications on Wednesday that the football-governing body has slammed a ban on Super Eagles’ forward Victor Osimhen from the team, for his social media outburst on ex-Super Eagles coach, Finidi George a few days ago. NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, expressed amazement at the reports, saying the Federation has neither instructed a process nor has a process been concluded to ban the player from the National Team. “The NFF hereby implores the media to join hands with the body to positively resolve issues and then focus…
THE newly crowned Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) champions Enugu Rangers have revealed plans to overhaul the team ahead of continental showpiece in the forthcoming new season. The team’s Fidelis Ilechukwu disclosed this yesterday during a radio program in Lagos, acknowledging that fresh legs would be injected in the team to fortify it for both the country’s top-flight league and continental matches. “What we are going to do is we have to look at the team first and how to bring players from defence, goalkeeper, midfielders and strikers. “As a team we have many challenges in all departments. There is…
RANGERS international Football Club of Enugu have won the 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) title after defeating Bendel Insurance 2-0 in Enugu on Sunday with one game remaining. The win took Rangers to 67 unassailable points at the top after their closest rivals Remo Stars and Enyimba lost 2-1 to Sunshine Stars and Sporting Lagos, respectively. It is the 8th Nigerian league title for the Flying Antelopes, making them the second most successful club in the league’s history trailing only Enyimba who have 9 league titles in their trophy cabinet. After being at the top of the league table…
VICTOR Osimhen has fired back at comments allegedly from ex-Super Eagles head coach George Finidi questioning his commitment to national team assignment. The Napoli star man missed Nigeria’s 2026 World Cup qualification games against South Africa and Benin Republic owing to injury concerns. Following the Super Eagles’ lacklustre showing in the matches – one draw and a loss – Finidi who has now resigned from the role was alleged to have questioned Osimhen’s commitment to the side, insisting he won’t beg players to feature for the team. Irked by the remark, Osimhen fired back at the former international in an…
FORMER Ajax winger, Finidi George, has stepped down as coach of the Super Eagles. This was made known by ex-Super Eagles media officer, Toyin Ibitoye in a post on X.com on Saturday. He wrote, “News just in. Finidi George #FinidiGeorge_FG has resigned from his #NGSuperEagles manager position.” The resignation follows the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) decision to appoint a foreign coach to oversee him, despite his recent appointment in May. George, 53, took the reins after Jose Peseiro’s contract ended in February, having served as his assistant for 20 months. However, the team’s disappointing performance in the 2026 World Cup…
NIGERIA’s U17 girls, the Flamingos, have secured their ticket to the 2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals after defeating their Liberian counterparts 2-0 at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, on Friday. This newspaper reports that Nigeria had earlier defeated Liberia 4-1 in Monrovia in the final round, first leg encounter, bringing the aggregate to 6-1. Chidi Harmony opened scoring for Nigeria three minutes into the game, when she outplayed the Liberian defence to put the ball beyond the goalkeeper, Makula Konneh, from a Shakirat Moshood crossing. Peace Effiong was close to scoring in the 17th minute, while Moshood…
FOUR teams – Ikorodu City, Nasarawa United, Elkanemi Warriors, and Beyond Limits – have been promoted to the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL). Ikorodu City will be playing in the country’s premier football league for the first time in their history after they alongside the three others secured their slot following the NNL Super 8 playoff. While Ikorodu City and Beyond Limits were the top two in the Southern Conference of the NNL, Elkanemi Warriors and Nasarawa United finished tops in the Northern Conference. Elkanemi Warriors beat Sokoto United 4-1 to emerge second – after earning six points – to…
FOLLOWERS of the Nigeria Premier Football League have applauded the NPFL board for not wasting time in punishing reigning champions Enyimba and leaders Enugu Rangers over the violence which disrupted their potential 2023/24 match-day 35 title decider in Enugu on Sunday, The PUNCH reports. What could have been the biggest game of the season ended embarrassingly at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium when Enyimba players walked off in protest of a late penalty awarded to the hosts and the fans in turn descended on the pitch to wreak further havoc. The league body acted swiftly on Monday by awarding three points…
THE Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, has summoned the Nigeria Football Federation and demanded a detailed technical report on the Super Eagles’ following their last two disappointing performances during the 2026 World Cup qualifying series in the June window. The Super Eagles managed to secure only one point from a possible six, following a 1-1 draw against South Africa at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo and losing 2-1 to Benin Republic in Abidjan in their third and fourth games of Group C. These results leave the Eagles with a total of just three points from a possible 12…
THE week 35 Nigerian Premier Football League match between Rangers International Football Club of Enugu and Enyimba Football Club of Aba has become the most anticipated football game in Nigeria if not the whole of Africa. Known as the Oriental derby, the match between the two most successful clubsides in Nigeria has always been a big fixture, but Sunday’s game is even huger with the league title in the balance. With just three games remaining for this NPFL season to come to an end, Rangers is leading the log with 61 points and is closely followed by Enymba and Remo…
THE Super Eagles of Nigeria played out a 1-1 draw with the Bafana Bafana of South Africa at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo. Coach Finidi George opted to start Southampton forward, Paul Onuachu to lead the lines instead of Victor bOnifcae of Bayern Leverkusen, with another surprise inclusion in the likes of Fisayo Dele-Basiru in the heart of midfield. Nigeria were hoping to avoid a third consecutive draw in the Group C World Cup qualifiers, however, South Africa’s Themba Zwane had something else in store as his 28th-minute strike beat Stanley Nwabali for an early lead. Hugo Broos’ men…
ADEMOLA Lookman is delighted to have chosen Nigeria over England for his senior international career, describing it as the best decision he ever made. The 26-year-old Atalanta forward, who is expected to play a key role for Nigeria in Friday’s 2026 Caf World Cup qualifying fixture against South Africa at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, said this in an interview with the Times on Tuesday. “I wanted to build a career internationally. The decision was something that I thought about for a long time before making it. To play for Nigeria is an honour first of all and the…
SUPER Eagles most in-form player, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi and Maduka Okoye will this morning arrive in Uyo where the three-time African champions are camping for the crunch World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic. This newspaper gathered from a top official of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that the three players were to arrive yesternight and fly into Uyo this morning to join the rest of the squad. “They will arrive tonight (yesterday night) and will fly into Uyo tomorrow (today),” said the official. Meanwhile, the atmosphere around the camp of the Super Eagles was described by…
THE ongoing nationwide strike action by workers on the auspices of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) has delayed the arrival of the remaining Super Eagles players to camp in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifiers. This newspaper reports that Maduka Okoye, Semi Ajayi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Calvin Bassey, Frank Onyeka, Alex Iwobi, Ademola Lookman and Paul Onuachu were being expected to join their teammates in camp on Monday. According to the team’s New Media officer, Promise Efoghe, the players, who are already in the country, had not been able to travel to Uyo…
PLAYERS of the Super Eagles have been advised to simply mime the new National Anthem instead of fretting over singing it during the CAF World Cup qualifying tie against South Africa at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on June 7. The advice came from some concerned Nigerians in their response to a Facebook post by former Nigeria goalkeeper Peterside Idah, who expressed his concern about the players’ ability to sing the old anthem reintroduced by the federal government on May 29 following approval by the National Assembly. “I hope these Super Eagles players will not disgrace us while the…
SUPER Eagles players have been arriving in trickles at their Uyo camp since it opened on Friday ahead of the two crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic. Although the Director of Media and Communications of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ademola Olajire, said the team’s camp opens on Monday, our correspondent gathered that players started arriving at the team’s camp on Friday, as well as head coach Finidi George and his assistants. According to sources in Uyo, the players in camp as of Saturday are Nigeria Premier Football League trio Sodiq Ismail, Kenneth Igboke (who was…
REAL Madrid withstood a Borussia Dortmund barrage to win the Champions League for the 15th time as Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior struck late in a 2-0 win at Wembley on Saturday. Defender Carvajal headed in from Toni Kroos’ corner on 74 minutes before Vinicius fired home to extend Madrid’s record as the most successful club in the competition’s history. Madrid have now won their last nine European Cup finals and won the competition six times in the last 11 seasons. However, not for the first time in that run, they had to rely on some good fortune as underdogs…
GOVERNOR of Cross River State, Bassey Otu, has rewarded Super Eagles player, Terem Moffi, with N10m for his role in Nigeria’s second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire. Moffi, along with his father and younger brother, received the gift in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State during his visit to the governor. Governor Otu praised Moffi, who is from the state, for representing Cross River State admirably and serving as a positive role model for the youth. He promised to continue supporting the Nice of France player and emphasised his administration’s dedication to…
THE Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has donated N1 million each to players of Edo Queens and N5m each to the coaches after they won the Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL). Obaseki said this on Thursday when he received the Edo Queens’ victory parade which terminated at the Government House in Benin City, the Edo State capital. He commended the team for breaking the 29-year-old Edo jinx in women’s football by winning the trophy for the first time. “To our wonderful girls and the coaching staff of Edo Queens, you have created history. Your achievement has made an indelible…