OFFICIAL: Super Eagles abandon South American powers as World Cup playoff looms

Nigeria’s scheduled friendly matches against Venezuela and Colombia have been cancelled following the Super Eagles’ qualification for next month’s FIFA World Cup play-offs.

The games, earlier fixed for November 14 and 18 in Houston and New York respectively, were part of Nigeria’s build-up to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, where they have been drawn in Group C. However, with the CAF-organised play-offs now taking place between November 13 and 16, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed the fixtures will no longer hold.

NFF’s Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, told The Punch that the decision was inevitable. “Yes, we have cancelled it, and it is automatic,” he said. “It is bound to happen if we qualify for the play-offs. There is no way we can participate in the play-offs on November 13 and 16 and still play the friendlies.”

World Cup playoffs: Venues, kickoff times a mystery still for Super Eagles

Three weeks to the decisive play-offs, there is still no clarity from CAF on the exact cities or stadiums where the matches will be held in Morocco. Not a single official communication has been made available to the four qualified teams; Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon, and DR Congo, leaving planning and logistics hanging in the air.

It’s an absurd situation. These are not exhibition fixtures, but continent-defining games that could determine Africa’s extra representative at the 2026 World Cup. Yet, the confederation remains characteristically quiet. Even for CAF, which has often been accused of opacity in communication and planning, this silence is baffling.

Nigeria’s 4-0 demolition of Benin in Uyo early this month sealed their play-off ticket, with Victor Osimhen scoring a hat-trick and Frank Onyeka adding the fourth. The win ensured the Super Eagles finished as one of the four best runners-up under CAF’s new format, which qualifies only group winners automatically and sends the next four into an additional knockout stage.

As things stand, the three-time AFCON winners are set to face Gabon in one semi-final, while Cameroon take on DR Congo in the other, both scheduled for November 13. The winners will then meet on November 16 to decide who advances to the inter-confederation play-offs.