World Cup (Q): “Nigeria needs three points against South Africa” – Aiyegbeni

Former Nigeria striker, Yakubu Aiyegbeni has reacted to the Super Eagles tough fixture against South Africa in match day 8 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The three time African champions are guests of Bafana Bafana in Bloemfontein for a crucial fixture that could decide the Super Eagles World Cup chances.

Nigeria will bank their confidence on the match day seven victory where they nicked a goal past Rwanda at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium but Aiyegbeni, who had 58 caps for Nigeria believes the fixture against South Africa will be tough.

“In football you never know what is going to happen, I’ve played against South Africa when Steven Pienaar was there and you came to Abuja to play,” he told SoccerBeat.

“You guys were very good in possession and you could pass the ball very well better than us but in the end I said to Pienaar that you can pass the ball better than us but we won that game.

“I think it’s not going to be easy playing against you guys on Tuesday because we need a win. If we want to get to the World Cup, we need to get those three points.” He added.

Nigeria currently sit third in Group C on 10 points, one behind Benin and six away from leaders and their next opponent South Africa. Rwanda occupy fourth on 8 points, one above Lesotho with Zimbabwe sitting bottom with four points after seven matches.

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