Duro Ikhazuagbewith agency report

Even in the midst of uncertainties, handlers of the Super Eagles now have the additional headaches of likely going to miss some of the invited 23 players for the 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lesotho. The affected players may not able to secure visas into South Africa.

Lesotho play their home games in South Africa since the beginning of the qualifying series. And they have chosen to play Nigeria at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Friday.

According to SCORENigeria, “There’s a major organisational hiccup as it concerns entry visas to South Africa – at least seven players cannot be in that country before Wednesday because of this.

“It means there may not be full squad training until possibly a day to the match.

“This is catastrophic!”

Further investigations showed that while the bulk of the squad from last month’s qualifiers were granted three-months multiple entry visas, the new invitees (due to injuries, late withdrawals and recalls) are now those not so lucky!

Although a dependable source from the South African capital confided in THISDAY last night that the number of players having visa issues may not be more than three.

“Yes, some of the players that were recalled to the team and were not in the squad that played Bafana Bafana are the ones having this visa problem. I think about three of them. Let’s see how the matter plays out in the next two days. We remain positive,” observed the top source on diplomatic matters.

Meanwhile, Super Eagles camp opened at the Ranch Hotel in Polokwane yesterday with only the coaches and backroom staff. Early  birds were expected to trickle into the facility late yesterday via Johannesburg. 

Training is expected to begin today with those who arrived as scheduled.

The Super Eagles will take on Lesotho in Polokwane on Friday, before they welcome group leaders Benin Republic to Uyo four days later.

Eagles  need to win both matches and hope both front runners Benin and South Africa stumble in their own final qualifiers for Nigeria  to stand any chance of featuring at next year’s Mundial.

Nigeria are third on 11 points, three points behind Benin and South Africa with two rounds of matches to the end of the qualifying series which provides for the group winners to automatically advance to the World Cup, while the runners-up could be offered a second lifeline through an intercontinental playoff.