Benefit Bafana Bafana as Nigeria and Zimbabwe draw in World Cup qualifiers

After drawing 1-1 with Zimbabwe on Sunday, Nigeria suffered their second blow in four days in their bid to compete in the 2026 Fifa World Cup.

Zimbabwe took the lead in the first half thanks to a direct free kick from Walter Musona, but Kelechi Iheanacho equalized midway through the second half.

Last Thursday, Nigeria also had to come from behind to draw 1-1 at home against Lesotho, the lowest-ranked of the six Group C teams.

“It was a tough, difficult flight of many hours from Nigeria and the players did not have sufficient rest,” said Nigeria coach Jose Peseiro.

“Our first-half performance was very poor, but we improved considerably in the second half and missed several late chances to take all three points.”