Fan View: Will Nigeria reach third round of 2022 World Cup qualifiers

Nigeria will progress to the knockout round of African World Cup qualifying, according to the majority of Goal readers.

The Super Eagles chances of qualification for Qatar 2022 came under scrutiny following their 1-0 home defeat to the Central African Republic on October 7.

Although Gernot Rohr’s side triumphed 2-0 in the reverse fixture three days later courtesy of goals from Leon Balogun and Victor Osimhen to lead Group C with nine points from four matches, there are doubts over the three-time African champions’ ability to qualify for the global football showpiece for the seventh time.

On this backdrop, we asked our readers if the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations will earn a ticket to the third round of the qualifiers – where Africa’s five candidates would be determined.

In a poll conducted on the Goal Africa Twitter handle, a massive 88.6 percent of total votes believed Nigeria will qualify ahead of Cape Verde, Liberia and the Wild Beasts.

On the other hand, 11.4 percent suggested that Rohr’s men will not reach the play-off round.

Should this happen, that would mean the West Africans would be missing the global football showpiece for the second time since making their bow at the 1994 edition hosted by the United States of America.

Nevertheless, former Nigeria striker Yakubu Ayegbeni is unruffled about the country’s chances of qualifying for the 2022 finals despite stuttering against Raoul Savoy’s Central Africans.

“I think when any country wants to play Nigeria, they always give more and it gets tough,” Ayegbeni told Fifa in a video made available to Goal.

“We might have lost one game, but I still believe we’ve got a chance to qualify for the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

“I think with the players we have in the team like [Wilfred] Ndidi as well as [Victor] Osimhen the striker, we have a chance to qualify.

“I’m not scared but I know we’ll qualify because we’ve got the players. We’ve struggled in the past to qualify for the World Cup, but I think with this team and the way they play now, and the countries they’re playing against now, I think we’ve got chances to pull through.”

Nigeria are guests of Liberia in their next fixture billed for the Accra Sports Stadium between November 11-13.