{"id":24690,"date":"2025-10-15T12:50:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T12:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kick442.com\/?p=24690"},"modified":"2025-10-15T12:50:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T12:50:18","slug":"ekong-were-happy-to-be-in-the-play-offs-and-well-give-it-our-best-shot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kick442.com\/fr\/ekong-were-happy-to-be-in-the-play-offs-and-well-give-it-our-best-shot\/","title":{"rendered":"Ekong: We\u2019re happy to be in the play-offs and we\u2019ll give it our best shot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nigeria’s Captain William Troost-Ekong said on Wednesday morning that the Super Eagles will give the CAF Play-Off Tournament for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Morocco next month their very best shot, as the group continues to quietly delight in the 4-0 win over B\u00e9nin Republic in Uyo on Tuesday that sent Nigeria to the play-off tournament, which precedes the intercontinental play-offs scheduled for Mexico in March next year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are quite happy to have that opportunity. It is a long route but it is a route afterall. We would have loved to get the automatic ticket but it didn\u2019t happen and we take what we have. For us, we will remain strong and tough and ready to confront every challenge on our way as we search for the ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a wonderful team effort on Tuesday evening. Everyone contributed; each person played their part. If the other match had gone in favour, we would be with the automatic ticket now. But that\u2019s life. You take what you get and run with it, and make the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nigeria got their best result of the campaign on an inspired night in the Akwa Ibom State capital, with Victor Osimhen netting a hat-trick and midfielder Frank Onyeka, who came in as a substitute, rifling in with the clock on 90 minutes to send the three-time African champions to the CAF Play-off Tournament.<\/p>\n

With the result they earned, the Super Eagles should have picked up the automatic ticket from Group C, but once more, Rwanda\u2019s Amavubi failed to hold things tight for Nigeria at the crucial hour, crumbling like a pack of cards to South Africa\u2019s Bafana Bafana in Nelspruit. It was November 2005 all over again, when all the Amavubi needed to do was hold Angola to a draw on the final matchday at home in Kigali, but they conceded a late goal by Fabrice Akwa to render Nigeria\u2019s five-goal rout of Zimbabwe in Abuja inconsequential, instead sending Angola to their first FIFA World Cup finals.<\/p>\n

In the CAF Play-offs, Nigeria will take on Gabon\u2019s Palancas Negras in a \u2018first semi-final\u2019 on Thursday, 13th\u00a0November, with Cameroon taking on the Democratic Republic of Congo in the \u2018second semi-final\u2019 on Friday, 14th\u00a0November. The two winners clash on Sunday, 16th\u00a0November in the \u2018final\u2019, with the winner to proceed to the Intercontinental Play-offs scheduled for the Mexican cities of Guadalajara and Monterrey in March next year.<\/p>\n

At the International Play-off Tournament, six teams will battle for two tickets. The teams are Africa\u2019s winner, Bolivia, New Caledonia, winner of Asian play-off between Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, and two of Jamaica, Costa Rica and Panama.<\/p>\n

\n

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