Super Eagles’ friendly matches against Venezuela and Colombia, scheduled to be played in the US next month, have been cancelled.
This is because Nigeria will be taking part in the African playoffs ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Earlier, NFF announced that the Super Eagles would play Colombia at Citi Field in New York on November 18 and Venezuela at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston on November 14.
However, given the Super Eagles’ late play-off qualification following their 4-0 win against Benin Republic last week, the matches would no longer hold in order for the team to focus on the play-off qualification matches.
The play-offs would feature Nigeria, alongside Cameroon, Congo DR and Gabon, in a one-legged, two-semi-final game. The winner of these semis and eventual final goes on to represent Africa in the intercontinental play-offs.
“We had a clause in the contract for the games covering this eventuality, if we qualified for the playoffs. 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,” an official told ESPN.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria are ranked highest in the play-offs and would play Gabon. The winner of the tie plays against the winner of the tie between Cameroon and Congo DR.
READ ALSO FROM SPORTING TRIBUNE
