World Cup (Q): Chelle says Nigeria qualification hopes still alive after Lesotho win

Nigeria national team coach Eric Chelle admitted their 2-1 victory against Lesotho had revived the Super Eagles hope of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The Super Eagles kept their Group C hopes alive with a battling victory over Lesotho at Peter Mokaba Stadium in South Africa on Friday. After a timid first half, the Super Eagles were awarded a penalty early in the second stanza when Motlomelo Mkhwanazi handled a goal-bound effort from Moses Simon.

Captain William Troost-Ekong took on the responsibility and slotted the spot-kick into the bottom corner with precision. There was high drama in the final ten minutes when debutant substitute Akor Adams made it two for Nigeria with a fine strike.

However, Hlompho Kalake quickly pulled one back for Lesotho after goalkeeper Stanley Nwabili failed to hold on to a corner but they were not able to get the second.

Nigeria need to go to the World Cup

Speaking after the game, the Malian coach explained their pressure had now gone down heading into their final game of the qualification campaign and further said the victory against Lesotho had kept their hopes alive.

”Today we are happy because we won the three points, we are still alive,” Chelle told reporters after the game as quoted by Complete Sports.

“I’m happy for my players, I want to congratulate them, for us we’ve been feeling the pressure since March and when my players come to camp they feel the pressure because for Nigeria we need to go to the World Cup, so we have lots of pressure, so maybe other teams will have some pressure too.

“We need to have our fans behind us to put pressure on Benin, this is the World Cup qualifiers, so and this game start when they put their feet in our country, we need to do the job on the pitch.”

With South Africa drawing 0-0 against Zimbabwe and Benin defeating Rwanda 1-0, Group C qualification will be decided on the final day. Nigeria will return home to host Benin at Godswill Akpabio Stadium on Tuesday.

The win left them third with 14 points, three fewer than leaders Benin, while South Africa remained second with 15 points. Rwanda’s defeat kept them fourth with 11 points.