Nigeria draw Cape Verde to advance to World Cup play-offs

Nigeria played a 1-1 draw with Cape Verde in their final group stage match of the World Cup qualifiers to advance to the Africa play-offs.

The Super Eagles went into the match at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, with a 2-point lead over Cape Verde and needed just one point to secure progress.

Victor Osimhen scored in the first minute of the game to put Nigeria ahead, but the Blue Sharks equalised four minutes later through Stopira to restore parity, and the game remained so for the rest of the match – just enough to ensure progress for Nigeria.

Nigeria joins DR Congo, Ghana, Egypt, Mali, Morocco, Senegal and Algeria in the Africa play-offs.

Algeria had played a 2-2 draw with Burkina Faso to also secure progress. The African champions needed just a point to go through to the final stage of the qualifiers, which will hold in March.

Burkina Faso needed all three points, but couldn’t find the winning goal.