Nigeria arrive in Bloem for huge Bafana clash without talismanic Osimhen

Super Eagles desperate for a win that could rescue their campaign, SA can almost clinch World Cup place

Nigeria arrived in Bloemfontein on Sunday night without their talismanic striker Victor Osimhen in what is a huge blow for them before the make or break 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Bafana Bafana at Free State Stadium.

The Nigerians' (10 points from seven matches) attempts to rescue their campaign from a dismal start, which was boosted by their second win at home against Rwanda on Saturday, rest with beating Group C leaders Bafana (16) to narrow the gap to three points. 

Osimhen, who plays for Süper Lig side Galatasaray, was replaced by Cyriel Dessers after limping off injured in the Super Eagles' 1-0 win over Rwanda in Uyo and has not recovered, leaving the Super Eagles less attacking options. 

In the absence of Osimhen, Super Eagles coach Éric Chelle will turn to Tolu Arokodare, who scored the decisive goal against Rwanda, Kelechi Iheanacho, Ademola Lookman, Frank Onyeka, Moses Simon and Samuel Chukwueze for options up front. 

Bafana have their fate in their own hands and a win over Nigeria on Tuesday will leave them on the verge of achieving their mission of qualifying for the tournament for the first time since 2002 in Korea and Japan.

The pressure is on second-placed Benin (11 points), third-placed Nigeria and fourth-positioned Rwanda (eight points) to catch up with South Africa over the remaining three rounds of qualifying matches. 

Lesotho (six points) and Zimbabwe (four), who prop up the bottom of the table, are out of the running but are going to have a say in how the group ends because they still have matches against the top three teams.

Bafana and Nigeria go into the crunch clash with motivation and winning form — South Africa convincingly beat Lesotho 3-0 on Friday night for their fourth victory in succession and Nigeria's win against Rwanda was their third win from three unbeaten matches. 

“I don’t necessarily think there’s pressure on us,” said Bafana striker Lyle Foster.

“I think at the moment we are where we wanted to be in the group and that’s a positive. I think pressure is on the guys who are trying to get to us but that doesn’t mean we should take our foot off the pedal.”

Bafana have the likely docking of three points by Fifa for fielding suspended Teboho Mokoena in a 2-0 win against Lesotho in Polokwane in March hanging over them.

A win against Nigeria would notably reduce that threat with games against Zimbabwe and Rwanda remaining next month.