Saturday 14 / June / 2025
NIGERIA are the only African team returning to the World Cup finals after playing in Brazil four years ago and must get past a familiar foe if they want to reach the second round again.
Nigeria have been paired with Argentina for the fifth time in six World Cup appearances, having finished second to Lionel Messi and his team in their group at the 2014 finals and advancing to the last 16, where they lost to France.
Getting past the group stage is the minimum target for Nigeria but they will also have to get the better of tough European pair Croatia and Iceland if they are to advance.
The Super Eagles are not short on confidence going into the tournament after defeating Argentina 4-2 in a friendly in Krasnodar last November and beating Poland away in March.
They also had to come through a World Cup qualifying group that included Algeria, who also got to the last 16 in Brazil, Zambia, and reigning African champions Cameroon.
“We have some exceptional players. We’ve found the right cocktail, the good mix between youth and experience,” said coach Gernot Rohr after Nigeria finished five points clear at the top of their qualifying group.
The German coach, whose quiet demeanour belies a steely approach, has successfully brought order and routine to a previously chaotic set-up. He has also elevated emerging talent quickly into key roles in the team.
“We decided to integrate a lot of young people; players like Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho and others who were already at big clubs,” he said. “With these new players and some old ones, we built a team that is solid.”
As part of a smoother, stronger administrative set-up this time around, Nigeria have implemented an extensive World Cup warm-up schedule, which includes a match against England at Wembley on June 2.
They have also attempted to head off the distractions that have hampered previous campaigns, notably arguments over money.
But the team always carry an unrealistic burden of expectation when they go to the World Cup, with the vast majority of Nigeria’s population of 186 million demanding some measure of success.
Nigeria have advanced past the first round three times but never reached the last eight - which remains the benchmark of African achievement at the World Cup.
Factbox
FIFA ranking: 47
Previous tournaments: Nigeria are appearing at their sixth World Cup finals, having missed only one tournament since they first qualified in 1994. They have got past the first round three times - on their debut appearance in the United States in 1994, four years later in France and again in Brazil. In 1994 they were just minutes from beating Italy and reaching the quarterfinals before giving up an equaliser and going on to lose after extra time.
Coach: Gernot Rohr
The former Bayern Munich player was appointed coach on a two-year deal in August 2016. He spent 12 years as a player at Girondins Bordeaux before going on to manage the club, taking them to the 1996 UEFA Cup final where they lost to Bayern. He began coaching in Africa at Etoile Sahel in Tunisia and led the national teams of Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso before the surprise appointment by Nigeria. Rohr brings a strict attention-to-detail approach to the job, which often frustrates the Nigerians, but he guided them to comfortable World Cup qualification despite a tough group.
Key players
Alex Iwobi: A tricky winger, he played for England at youth level before declaring for Nigeria. Iwobi was four years old when his family moved from Lagos to London. His uncle Jay-Jay Okocha went to the World Cup in both 1994 and 1998 and Iwobi is seen as a member of an exciting new crop of talent with the ability to match the exploits of Okocha’s group, who are regarded as Nigeria’s golden foot-balling generation.
Victor Moses: Another former England junior international who fled to Britain aged 11 when his parents were killed in religious riots in Nigeria. Moses’s strong play on the right side of the attack is pivotal to the Super Eagles and he brings vital previous World Cup experience to the squad.
Wilfred Ndidi: Converted from centre-back into a defensive midfielder when still a teenager at Genk in Belgium, he cost Leicester City £17 million ($22.78 million) last year. Ndidi does not score many goals but when he does it is usually with a touch of the spectacular.
Form guide
A six-match unbeaten run for Nigeria was ended when Serbia beat them 2-0 in a World Cup warm-up game in London in March. Their preparatory programme before Russia includes a 4-2 victory over Argentina in Krasnodar in November and 1-0 away over Poland in Wroclaw in March.
How they qualified
Nigeria finished five points ahead of second-placed Zambia in a qualifying group that also included Algeria, who reached the last 16 of the 2014 World Cup, and last year’s African Nations Cup winners Cameroon.
Prospects
Nigeria are in Group D where they face Croatia, Iceland and, in their final game, Argentina. The meeting with the Argentines in St Petersburg is the fifth match-up between the two countries in Nigeria’s six World Cup finals appearances. As a team that feed on confidence, success in their opening encounter on June 16 against Croatia is key to their chances of advancing.
