{"id":145521,"date":"2023-10-22T02:49:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T23:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/?p=145521"},"modified":"2023-10-22T02:49:09","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T23:49:09","slug":"super-eagles-vs-zimbabwe-venue-decided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/super-eagles-vs-zimbabwe-venue-decided\/","title":{"rendered":"Venue for Super Eagles vs Zimbabwe clash finally decided"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles are set to face Zimbabwe in Rwanda for their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier match according to fresh reports making rounds. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The race for the Mundial begins in November but the venue of the Super Eagles<\/a> trip to Zimbabwe has been the bone of contention in recent weeks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Zimbabwe, who are aiming to qualify for their first-ever World Cup, will battle it out with Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, Lesotho, and Benin for the group\u2019s solitary ticket.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, Zimbabwe will begin their World Cup<\/a> qualifiers away in Rwanda on November 13. A week later, the Warriors are expected to host the Super Eagles of Nigeria and it seems they want to remain in Kigali for their match day two contest.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the latest reports, the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) have reportedly settled for Rwanda as its home ground for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just a month ago, ZIFA were thinking of playing their World Cup Qualifiers (home games) in Botswana after CAF rejected Zimbabwe\u2019s bid to use the Harare stadium for the qualifiers.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Botswana looking unlikely, ZIFA looked towards hosting their home games in South Africa, but with the lastest development, it looks off the table.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ZIFA have now decided to play their qualifying matches in one of the approved stadiums in Kigali.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Govt unaware Warriors will host Nigeria in Rwanda<\/h2>\n

Despite ZIFA's decision to play the match in Rwanda, a Zimbabwean government official has claimed to be unaware of ZIFA\u2019s plans ahead of next month's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the recent developments have thrown the old plans away and ZIFA are now trying to settle for a less expensive option, which a government official has claimed to have no knowledge about.<\/span><\/p>\n

As per NewZimbabwe (via Pindula), Zimbabwe Deputy Minister of Sports Arts and Culture Emily Jesaya has emphasized the Ministry\u2019s lack of official information, highlighting the recent lifting of the ban by FIFA.<\/span><\/p>\n

While affirming the nation\u2019s readiness to compete internationally, she acknowledged the inability to host soccer matches within the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Previously, ZIFA's Normalisation Committee chairperson Lincoln Mutasa confirmed they had \u201cpositive engagements\u201d with Botswana Football Association officials as regards the possibility of staging the game there.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have spoken with Botswana and they are agreeable to helping us. It\u2019s quite near. I\u2019m not sure if Beira (Mozambique) is available, we are still checking, but definitely we have spoken to Botswana and the engagements have been positive,\u201d Mutasa told NewsDay Sport.<\/span><\/p>\n

Question marks over Super Eagles' readiness for the World cup Qualifiers\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Nigerians are not so convinced about the chances of their side to make a great start to the World Cup Qualifiers following their performances in the recent FIFA international window.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Super Eagles drew 2-2 with Saudi Arabia in the first game before labouring to beat Mozambique 3-2 in the other one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Talking point from those games is the lack of an assured goalkeeper in the national team as Francis Uzoho made comical errors, yet he played all the minutes in both fixtures. It brings rise to the question of whether there is need for a new goalkeeper and if the defence at large still needs to be tweaked to find some more balance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Credit: Icon Sport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The qualifiers are expected to prepare Jose Peseiro\u2019s men for the Africa Cup of Nations in C\u00f4te d'Ivoire next year but it seems there are questions begging for answers on the team at the moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nigeria\u2019s Super Eagles are set to face Zimbabwe in Rwanda for their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier match according to fresh reports making rounds. The race for the Mundial begins in November but the venue of the Super Eagles trip to Zimbabwe has been the bone of contention in recent weeks.\u00a0 Zimbabwe, who are aiming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":977,"featured_media":145523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":""},"categories":[1,20999],"tags":[],"table_tags":[],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Daniel Kolade","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145521"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/977"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145524,"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145521\/revisions\/145524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145521"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalballlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=145521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}