Super Eagles captain, William Troost-Ekong, has stressed the importance of Saturday’s Group C 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Rwanda, noting that he and his teammates fully understand what is at stake.
Nigeria will be aiming to revive their qualification hopes when they host Rwanda in Uyo, having endured a shaky start to the campaign.
In the first meeting between both sides in Kigali last March, Victor Osimhen’s brace sealed a 2-0 victory for the Eagles.
However, Rwanda showed their resilience when they overturned a deficit to defeat Eric Chelle’s team 2-1 in a 2025 AFCON qualifier.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s encounter, Troost-Ekong told the Super Eagles media team, “The players are very focus, we are really prepared for the game on Saturday and I want to thank them for their support, I want to ask them to continue to encourage us and be praying for us.
“It’s going to be an important sets of games for us starting on Saturday, we know the gravity of this game My (against Rwanda), we are going to be focus on preparations which will be let for us.”
The AFCON 2023 Most Valuable Player also heaped praise on teenage defender Benjamin Frederick, describing him as one for the future.
“Benjamin is a humble, hardworking, very talented defender, I think we are all impressed with what he showed us in Unity Cup, to come in and play so well is not easy at all.
“Also credit to my teammate Moses Simon for giving him the opportunity, bringing him to his academy before he went to Brentford. It is things we love to see, we have a talented player that will be the future of the Super Eagles defence.”
