Super Eagles Cancel US Friendlies To Focus On World Cup Playoffs

20 Oct 2025, 15:05 by Ernest Victor · Naija News

Super Eagles of Nigeria will no longer play their planned friendly matches against Venezuela and Colombia in the United States next month, after the fixtures clashed with the African playoffs for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Naija News reports that the friendlies were billed for November 14 in Houston and November 18 in New York, but those dates now fall within the crucial playoff window set to take place in Morocco.

An official of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) confirmed the cancellation, explaining that the possibility of such a schedule conflict had already been anticipated in the match contracts.

“We had a clause in the contract for the games covering this eventuality, if we qualified for the playoffs,” the NFF official told ESPN. “So we will not be going ahead with the matches any more. Our goal is to concentrate on the playoffs now and qualify from Africa and then focus on the intercontinental playoffs.”

The Super Eagles will now channel all their attention toward securing a World Cup ticket, with preparations expected to intensify in the coming weeks.

Nigeria is looking to return to the global stage after missing the 2022 edition in Qatar, and the NFF has emphasised that nothing will distract the team from that objective.

An updated schedule is expected to be released soon as the Super Eagles prepare for the decisive playoff battles, starting with a clash with Gabon in November 2025.