Nigeria’s Super Eagles’ World Cup hope dims as Bafana Bafana end match in 1-1 draw

The crucial match between the Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana on Tuesday ended 1-1 draw.

Super Eagles captain, William Troost-Ekong, scored a home goal and a goal from Calvin Bassey gave Nigeria an equalizer in the 2026 World Cup qualifier match against South Africa played in Bloemfontein.

Withe result, the hope of Super Eagles qualifying for the World Cup became slim.

A breakdown by points showed that with two matches left to play in the group, Nigeria are 6 points behind South Africa who are topping Group C with 17 points, while the Super Eagles are on 11 points alongside Benin Republic who have a match at hand.

Indeed, South Africa came out with great pressure, to exploit the advantage of playing at home.

However, Nigeria won a corner in the 10th minute, after Ademola Lookman sent in a pinpoint cross from the right.

South Africa’s goalkeeper Foster was quick to react, clearing the threat with a well-timed header.

But in the 25th minute,a home goal came from Troost-Ekong against Nigeria, which put Bafana Bafana ahead.

But Nigeria responded just before half-time with a goal from Calvin Bassey’s header, to make 1-1, silencing the crowd.

At the break, Nigeria made two bold substitutions to ignite their attack. Arokodare replaced Dessers, and Onyemaechi came on for Troost-Ekong. It didn’t take long for Arokodare to make an impact, racing down the left wing, cutting inside with precision, and unleashing a shot that narrowly missed the target.

In the second half, Nigeria slowly began to seize control, their dominance growing despite South Africa’s unwavering resilience.

In the dying minutes, Nigeria threw everything forward, but the crucial second goal remained out of reach. The missed opportunity all but dashed their hopes of qualification.

Despite a late surge from Nigeria, the crucial second goal eluded them, leaving their qualification hopes hanging by a thread.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

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.

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