Ekpo Urges Super Eagles To Play With Hope, Commitment, And Determination

A former midfielder in the Super Eagles, Friday Ekpo has charged current stars of the Nigerian squad to play their upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers with total commitment, hope and determination.

Sports247 reports that, while airing his thoughts ahead of the Eagles’ resumption of camp on Monday for the games against Rwanda in Uyo on September 6th and away to South Africa on the 9th, Ekpo added that all Nigerians have to remain optimistic about the team’s chances of qualifying.

He further admonished against throwing arms up in surrender, with a reminder that the race has to be taken all the way to the end, which means the players must remain focused and aim for victory in all four of the remaining matches.

“It all depends on how we prepare and play the games,” Ekpo stated, “We have to look at what we will do to make sure everything goes well.

“Talking about whether we have a chance or not does not matter. We just need to play, and we must get to the end.”

He concluded by ruling out the possibility of Nigeria not playing the last two matches in October – away to Lesotho and home with Benin Republic – should the upcoming couple of games prove too difficult for the Eagles to win.

“Nobody drops out of it. If you want to drop out, it should have been from Day 1. Now you can’t just drop out. So, we have to give the remaining games the best of our efforts,” Ekpo stressed.

Sports247 reports that only four straight wins in the remaining qualifiers would assure Nigeria of an automatic ticket to USA/Canada/Mexico 2026, but finishing as runners-up in the group could take them into the play-off round as one of four best second placed teams.

However, the Eagles’ current fourth spot in their group leaves much to be desired, as they stand 30th on the overall log of the African 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and, to revive their chances, they desperately need to beat both Rwanda and South Africa in the impending September games.