The Amavubi, Rwanda’s national football team, lost 0-2 at home to Nigeria in the World Cup qualifiers last Friday when the Super Eagles won Kigali against their hosts for the first time in several years.
The dejection of the Rwandan fans was palpable, apparently, they had been certain of their upped ranking in Group C.
Both goals of Victor Osimhen on on 10′ & 45+2′ in the first half were sufficient for Nigeria’s win, which was their first victory in this qualification series and enabled them to stay in the running for the
World Cup.
It was in 2006 that Nigeria was able to get a 1-1 tie against Rwanda during a World Cup qualifying match.
In 2011 and 2024, both teams had goalless draws in AFCON qualifiers Yet, this time around it was Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen who struck with two early goals in the first half, which made the Super Eagles the first team in this series to emerge victorious and reignited their dream for the World Cup.
Both Rwanda and Nigeria are in a group of four teams with a score difference of one point; therefore, they will need to outperform each other to stay in the top two positions in their upcoming matches.
Rwanda. Amavubi, still ranks in the third place in their group with 7 points from five games, while Super Eagles sits fourth with 6 points from five games as well.
The Super Eagles at fourth have been left trailing the new leaders, South Africa, with a difference of four points after they upset Lesotho 2-0 and Nigeria got six points.
The Benin Republic is in the second position with eight points while Rwanda with seven points.
The Super Eagles’ next match is against Zimbabwe at home on Tuesday, March 25 in Uyo, while Amavubi will played Lesotho on Tuesday in Kigali.
Joseph M. Vincent