Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong has expressed confidence that Nigeria’s 2-0 victory over Rwanda in Kigali has reignited their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, stressing that the team is now fully focused on securing a ticket to the global tournament.
Speaking at Kigali International Airport before the team’s departure, Ekong emphasised the importance of Friday’s win, describing it as a crucial statement of intent at the halfway point of the qualifiers.
“It was important to make the statement that we did, and we’re all happy about it, and the way we did it. Of course, we have not qualified and there’s still a lot of work, but we have started the recovery in a good way and we just have to keep working hard,” Ekong stated.
He refrained from dwelling on the team’s slow start to the campaign but was optimistic about the path ahead. “I don’t want to go into the circumstances that made the first four matches go the way they went. The good thing is we can still recover and revive the campaign, and we have done that.”
The Super Eagles’ dominant performance, led by Ekong’s commanding leadership, combined with the attacking brilliance of Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, and Moses Simon, evoked memories of the team’s impressive run at AFCON 2024, where they came within 23 minutes of lifting the trophy in Côte d’Ivoire.
As the team landed at Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, aboard a chartered ValueJet Airline CRJ-900, Ekong was already rallying his teammates ahead of Tuesday’s must-win encounter against Zimbabwe.
“We read somewhere that the Zimbabweans are being motivated to come to Uyo and get a result. They should forget it. We are hugely motivated by the ambition to play at the FIFA World Cup. Apart from myself and Alex (Iwobi) and perhaps a couple of others who were part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, this generation is hungry to play at the highest level. We want to make Nigeria proud and at the same time, do ourselves proud,” Ekong asserted.
Osimhen, who scored both goals against Rwanda, echoed his captain’s determination. “We are ready. The remaining matches are wars and we must fight them with all that we have to win,” the Napoli striker said upon arrival in Uyo.
A win on Tuesday would take Nigeria to nine points, keeping them firmly in contention for a World Cup ticket, particularly if Benin Republic and South Africa cancel each other out in their fixture at Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.
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