Racing Genk striker Cyriel Dessers has predicted that the Super Eagles will reach the quarterfinal of the World Cup in the coming years.

Nigeria have attempted to advance to the last eight of the World Cup on three previous occasions but lost to European nations Italy, Denmark and France in 1994, 1998 and 2014 respectively.

One-cap Nigeria international Dessers expects the Super Eagles to play a significant role in future tournaments, pointing out there are exciting young talents such as Victor Osimhen, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze in the current squad.

"Hopefully we can provide a stunt in the coming years. A quarter-final at a World Cup should certainly be possible," Dessers was quoted as saying by Voetbal Zone.

"There are more and more boys who receive the European education, we can certainly play a significant role with that.

"Nowadays, a Nigerian attacker plays well in every European top competition but also the talents that are coming.

"They can really make a difference in the coming years.We are just as curious as the rest of the football world."

Dessers has presumably committed his international future to three-time African champions Nigeria, having made his debut off the bench vs Tunisia in October 2020 but the Belgian-born striker is still there for the taking as it was a non-competitive match.

Igho Kingsley