World Cup (Q): Eric Chelle proud of Nigeria’s victory over Benin

Nigeria national team head coach Eric Chelle commended his players on Tuesday’s stellar performance after the Super Eagles’ thrashed Benin 4-0 to keep their 2026 FIFA World Cup hopes alive.

The Warlord in Uyo ⚔️

Victor Osimhen led from the front with a ruthless hat-trick as the Super Eagles soared past Benin 🦅#SoarSuperEagles | #FIFAWCQ | #Naija4theWin pic.twitter.com/PMp7QRp92U

— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) October 14, 2025

Super Eagles who welcomed Benin to the Godswill Akpibio stadium, Uyo on Tuesday, saw a hat-trick from Victor Osimhen and a goal from Frank Onyeka saw the Super Eagles secure victory at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo as well as a second place finish in Group C, which handed them a playoff slot as one of the top four ranked group runners-up.

Reacting to his teams victory, Chelle was full of praise for his side as he claims the job is not yet finished at all eyes turns to Morocco for the players.

“I’m so proud of my players. They deserved this game. Because it was not easy with a new coach, with a new philosophy. They acclimated really fast. Now we go to Morocco. This is not finished, this is the beginning. It will be very difficult. So tonight, I’m just happy for my players. They played a great game.”

“Thank God. And I’m happy for the fans, because they brought us the victory. They helped push us to take this victory. The players played a very great game. Especially the best striker in the world (Victor Osimhen).”

“All the players gave everything, they are my champions. So I’m happy, I’m very happy for them, for these players. Everybody brings something in this team.”

Captain William Troost-Ekong, reacting to the victory and the question of where the performance of the day came from, asserted that the ability to perform has always been there but needed time.

“Responsibility is part of being part of this team, and today, many players stood up and they took the responsibility. And we have seen that throughout these qualifiers. Everyone is trying It’s not easy to wear this shirt. It’s very heavy. It’s not easy to perform and get the results and make everyone happy. But we’re all trying.”

“There’s been so much change within this team, but the boys are trying. It’s been something that needed some time. We have seen in these qualifications, we had four different coaches.”

Troost-Ekong also thanked the Nigerian fans for their support, adding that now the focus turns to Morocco as they are taking it one game at a time.

“We have big work still to do in Morocco next month for the playoff. And then a game in March when we get there. We want to continue taking it game by game. But yeah, we should be very proud of everyone.”

“I also want to thank all the Nigerians who supported us. Because to get to this point, it’s not easy at all. Together, I really believe that we’re going to do it. I hope that everyone believes with us now.”

The Al-Kholood defender further established that patience should be exercised with the team, that with time they would keep on improving.

“Hopefully, the more time we spend together and the more time we work with the coach, the team will continue to improve. And we have big targets ahead next month, but then also in December, January with the AFCON, and then hopefully a final in March to get us to the World Cup. So, the work is far from finished.

“We just need a little bit of patience because we will continue to improve. And the mistakes that we make are part of it.”

Nigeria turns their attention to the World Cup qualification playoffs

Nigeria qualified for the second round of qualifying from the CAF region, which will consist of a four-team playoff tournament. They secured their spot by finishing as one of the four best runners-up across the nine CAF qualification groups.

Morocco will host the playoff tournament next month, November 13 through November 16, with Nigeria likely to face Gabon. The teams (Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon) will be assigned their seeds based on the upcoming FIFA ranking update on October 23 with the number one seed (currently Nigeria) facing the four seed (currently Gabon).

The winner qualifies to the six-team intercontinental playoff which will take place next March.