A late goal from Steve Mounié secured a crucial 1-0 win for Benin over Zimbabwe on Friday, dramatically reshaping the landscape of Group C in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and intensifying the pressure on Nigeria’s Super Eagles.
The result in Abidjan propelled Benin to eight points, pushing them above Nigeria, who now sit in a precarious fourth place with just seven points.
This leaves Rwanda and South Africa, both on eight points, also ahead of the three-time African champions.
With only four matches remaining, the margin for error for the Super Eagles has vanished.
The team, currently winless in its recent qualifiers, must now secure victories in all its upcoming games—against Rwanda, South Africa, and Lesotho—to have a realistic chance of qualifying for the tournament in Mexico, USA, and Canada.
The urgency of the situation has been underscored by former Super Eagles defender Ben Iroha. A member of Nigeria’s historic 1994 World Cup squad, Iroha has called for immediate maximum effort, starting with Saturday’s must-win clash against Rwanda in Uyo.
“We are in a difficult race against time. We must win every match,” Iroha stated, emphasizing that the team’s current position is an unfair reflection of Nigeria’s deep pool of talent.
He believes a victory against Rwanda is essential to serve as a turning point and put the faltering qualification campaign back on track.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
