Nigeria will face Gabon in next month’s World Cup play-off semi-final after edging Burkina Faso to one of the four best runners-up spots in the CAF qualifiers.
The final round of matches delivered high tension across Africa, but none more so than the race between Nigeria and Burkina Faso for a play-off ticket.
How it happened
Burkina Faso looked set for qualification after a 3-1 win over Ethiopia on Monday, which temporarily placed them in the top four runners-up bracket.
Nigeria, meanwhile, hosted Benin at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on Tuesday.
With South Africa’s 3-0 victory over Rwanda confirming them as Group C winners, the Super Eagles turned their focus to sealing a play-off slot.
A first-half hat-trick from Victor Osimhen put Nigeria in control, but they still needed one more goal to surpass Burkina Faso’s standing.
Frank Onyeka delivered the decisive strike in stoppage time, pushing Nigeria ahead on goal difference after both sides finished level on points.
Why Burkina Faso missed out despite higher points
Many fans questioned why Burkina Faso, who recorded 21 points and a superior goal difference in Group A, failed to qualify while Nigeria advanced.
The answer lies in CAF’s qualification criteria. After Eritrea withdrew from Group E before the qualifiers began, CAF ruled that results against sixth-placed teams in each group would not count when ranking the best runners-up.
As a result, Burkina Faso’s home and away victories over Djibouti, the bottom team in Group A, were discarded.
Those two wins, which contributed six points and a +9 goal difference, were removed from their record.
Their adjusted total dropped to 15 points with a +6 goal difference, allowing Nigeria to leapfrog them courtesy of Onyeka’s late goal.
Next stop: Morocco
Nigeria will now join Gabon, Cameroon, and DR Congo in a four-nation play-off tournament scheduled for November in Morocco.
The winner of that mini competition will earn a place in the intercontinental play-off in March 2026, the final hurdle on the road to the FIFA World Cup.
