Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals suffered a huge blow at home on Tuesday after the Warriors of Zimbabwe scored a last-minute equalizer in their Matchday 6 encounter at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
Victor Osimhen, playing his 40th match for the Nigeria senior team, put Nigeria in front in the 74th minute from Olaoluwa Aina’s cross.
Shortly after Osimhen’s goal, the Warriors could have scored as Khama Billiat broke from the left and the Super Eagles were only saved by the crossbar.
However, Substitute Tawanda Chireda eventually find the equalizer in the 90th minute, the Warriors swept past the Nigeria defense and he cleverly poked past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali from close range.
The result meant the Super Eagles are still languishing in the fourth place in group C with 7 points.
Group leaders South Africa put daylight between themselves and the rest of the pack with a comfortable 2-0 win over Benin Republic in Abidjan, that took them to 13 points.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Zizo scored in first-half stoppage time as they beat Sierra Leone 1-0 on Tuesday to extend their lead at the top of their World Cup qualifying group.
Zizo scored from close range as Hossam Hassan’s unbeaten side moved to 16 points with their fifth win in six games in Group A, five ahead of Burkina Faso in second.
The Leone Stars of Sierra Leone are third with eight points.
The home side dominated, with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah missing an early chance, while Omar Marmoush could have given Egypt the lead, but his effort from the edge of the box went wide.
Egypt’s Marwan Ateya hit the post early in the second half, while Manchester City’s Marmoush opted to pass the ball instead of shooting from inside the box.
In Yaounde, a brace by captain Vincent Abubakar helped Cameroon to beat Libya 3-1. Byran Mbeumo scored in between Abubakar’s goals.
Cameroon are one point behind Cape Verde, group D leaders that beat Angola in Luanda 2-1.
Here are other Match Day 6 results:
Senegal 2-0 Togo
Mauritania 0-2 DR Congo
Algeria 5-1 Mozambique
Comoros 1-0 Chad
Nigeria 1-1 Zimbabwe
Benin Republic 0-2 South Africa
Uganda 1-0 Guinea
Rwanda 1-1 Lesotho
Angola 1-2 Cape Verde
Cameroon 3-1 Libya
Burundi 5-0 Seychelles
Botswana 2-0 Somalia
Sudan 1-1 South Sudan
Egypt 1-0 Sierra Leone
Eswatini 3-3 Mauritius
Kenya 1-2 Gabon
Tunisia 0-0 Malawi
Ethiopia 6-1 Djibouti
Côte d’Ivoire 1-0 The Gambia
G. Bissau 1-2 Burkina Faso
C.A. Rep 0-0 Mali
Liberia 2-1 Sao Tome
Namibia 1-1 E. Guinea
