The Super Eagles international friendly matches against Venezuela and Colombia, scheduled to be played in the United States next month, have been cancelled.
This is as a result of Nigeria’s qualification for the African playoffs for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The dates for the friendlies clashed with Nigeria’s playoff fixtures in Morocco next month. The Eagles were to play Venezuela on November 14 in Houston and Colombia on November 18 in New York.
However, the dramatic turn of events in their final Group C game against Benin Republic at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo last week.
“We had a clause in the contract for the games covering this eventuality, if we qualified for the playoffs,” an official of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) was quoted by ESPN as saying
“So we will not be going ahead with the matches any more.
“Our goal is to concentrate on the playoffs now and qualify from Africa and then focus on the intercontinental playoffs.”
The Eagles will face Gabon in the playoff on November 13. Nigeria, one of the best four teams to qualify for the playoffs, are the highest ranked side, and picked a date against Gabon who are the lowest ranked.
Cameroon will face the Democratic Republic of Congo in the other game. The winner will tackle the winner of the game between Nigeria and Gabon.
