Soccer
Super Eagles and Rangers defender, Leon Aderemi Balogun, has revealed what the Nigerian Football team must do to claim their place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 36-year-old last played for the three-time AFCON Champions in June 2022, and in total has racked up 46 caps for the Super Eagles since making his debut in 2014.
Eric Chelle’s side are yet to win in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and are currently 5th in the Group, four points behind table-toppers, Rwanda and South Africa.
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Nigeria resume their qualification journey next month, and Balogun rolled back the years in a conversation with Ay Suga Naija Lifestyle, backing the Super Eagles to overcome their current hurdle.
“Everybody knows it’s a very difficult situation. I think a lot of people think it’s impossible, but you need to have some form of confidence if you are playing for the Nigerian Super Eagles.
“We’re top of Africa, we need to get back to the top. We need to earn it again. We still need to get on that again. I mean, we still have the reputation, but we need to back it up with performances, and recently we fell short. Okay, no one is free from errors. We still have six games left, that’s six chances to get it right. So why not go in there with supreme confidence with the players? I mean, look at the names, there’s no team we have to hide from,” the former Mainz 05 defender said.
“I think the NFF have done a good job in getting a new manager just in time, so he can go and access players, scout, and then get enough time to prepare. I always think it’s hard for a manager to have time on his hands to prepare, but I think he’s been blessed with a good foundation.”
“I think he’s been given the freedom and the platform to implement what he wants to do, so, we can only plead with everyone to give him the time that he needs. This will be a process. The team has to support him in that, so they can make progress. It won’t always be smooth.”
“It’ll be eleven years since I played my first game for the Super Eagles. We’ve overcome a lot as a team, and if we did it before, we can do it again. These players show up for their clubs week in, and week out, so it’s about getting the best out of them,” Balogun added.
The Super Eagles play against Rwanda on the 19th of March before flying home to take on Zimbabwe at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, on the 22nd of March.
Leon Balogun has scored one goal and provided an assist in 19 games across all competitions for the Gers this season. His contract at Ibrox runs out this summer.
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