'Nothing strange' - Peter Rufai expects Super Eagles to correct their flaws ahead of resumption of WCQ

Two-time World Cupper Peter Rufai has shared his views on the way the Super Eagles started the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

Fans and pundits alike were thinking the Super Eagles would start the qualifiers at full throttle having missed out on the 2022 tournament in Qatar, but the team led by Jose Peseiro are playing catch-up in the race to qualify with just two points from their opening two games in Group C.

After Rwanda caused a sensation by defeating South Africa on matchday two, the group was thrown wide open. 

Before the start of the qualifiers, Nigeria, a powerhouse of African football, were presented with a golden opportunity to qualify for the World Cup, with nine African teams guaranteed to compete in the 2026 tournament. 

Rufai has underlined that the Super Eagles can bounce back and get one of the tickets to the World Cup holding in Canada, Mexico and United States.

"In a game of football you must take everything serious in the aspect of planning and in the aspect of executing," Rufai said to Channels Television Sports. 

"As far as the first two matches are concerned, it calls for concern, there's no doubt about that but on the other hand knowing what football is all about, the same thing that happened with the Super Eagles in their previous matches could also happen to our opponents in the last stages of the qualifiers.

"All the Super Eagles have to do is that they've taken note from what has happened and I'm quite sure that they'll make corrections to all they have observed, and there's nothing strange about what has happened."

Nigeria are back in action in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers next June when the face South Africa and Benin.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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