Nigeria have resuscitated their dream of featuring in the 2026 World Cup finals after beating Rwanda 2-0 at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali on Friday.
Victor Osimhen’s brace handed the Super Eagles the crucial points as Eric Sekou Chelle started his reign as the head coach with a morale-boosting victory.
Meanwhile, unmarked Osimhen scored the opening goal by firing past Rwandan goalkeeper Fiarce Ntwari in the 11th minute. The Galatasaray forward did well to connect to a free kick delivered by Ademola Lookman to give Nigeria an early lead.
The Super Eagles almost doubled their lead in the 24th minute, but Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Ntwari did well to parry away a long-range shot directed to the top corner by Moses Simon.
Rwanda’s coach, Adel Amrouche, was forced to make a change in the 37th minute when Samuel Gueulette picked up what looked like a knock, and Gilbert Mugisha was brought on.
Nigeria doubled their lead when Osimhen scored in the third minute of added time of the first half. Samuel Chukwueze picked out Osimhen, who was barely marked again, and the forward with tangible composure fired past Ntwari from just outside the box.
Rwanda could not deal with the Super Eagles attacks, and the visitors took full advantage of the disjointed display by the host.
Nigeria are now placed fourth in the Group C standings – four points behind leaders, South Africa, who defeated Lesotho on Friday in Polokwane. Osimhen was certainly the star of the game; his two goals handed Nigeria a crucial win, which was their first in the qualifiers.
Being one of the high-profile stars in the Super Eagles’ set-up, the forward delivered when his services were needed the most. After his struggle at Amakhosi, Ntwari came into this game hoping to have a better outing and boost his confidence. However, he conceded two, and this could affect his morale going forward.
When he signed for Chiefs, he was the undisputed starter but dropped down the pecking order as the season progressed.
The performance against Nigeria might not convince Nasreddine Nabi, who has recently stuck with Bruce Bvuma as a starting goalkeeper, to hand Ntwari slots in his starting lineups going forward. Nigeria will face Zimbabwe on March 25 in the next qualifier in Uyo in search of their second win in the qualifiers.
Rwanda will host Lesotho on the same day at the Amahoro Stadium.
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