Super Eagles midfielder Frank Onyeka says Nigeria are fully prepared for Sunday night’s crucial CAF World Cup playoff final against DR Congo, insisting the players understand the weight of the occasion and are determined to deliver victory.
Nigeria face the Leopards at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdallah by 8 p.m., needing a win to secure passage to the Inter-confederation playoffs scheduled for March 2026.
“The players are ready; the players are focused. We will give everything,” Onyeka told Flashscore.com.
“We know how important this game is, so we’ll go all in and by God’s grace, we’ll come out with a victory and Nigerians will be happy.”
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The Super Eagles booked their place in the playoff final after a commanding 4–1 win over Gabon in the semifinals. Prior to that, they overcame Benin Republic 4–0 to qualify for the CAF playoffs, a route Onyeka admits has been far from ideal.
“No nation wants to take this path, but here we are. It’s a tough route, yet our focus must be on emerging as Africa’s number one and securing a spot at the FIFA World Cup. It won’t be easy, but we have to give everything.”
DR Congo, who finished second in their World Cup qualifying group with 22 points, reached the final courtesy of Chancel Mbemba’s late winner against Cameroon. Onyeka expects a difficult test against the Leopards.
“DR Congo are a good side as well as Cameroon too but it was the Congolese that scaled through,” he continued.
“There are no easy teams in African football, we just need to focus on ourselves and on Congo. We must be at our best so we can come out with a good result.”
Under head coach Eric Chelle, the Super Eagles have found renewed stability and belief. The former Mali boss arrived needing a near-perfect run for Nigeria to keep their World Cup hopes alive and has since gone unbeaten in 10 games, an impressive turnaround that has brought the team within two victories of the global tournament in 2026.
“For me, personally, maybe I’m speaking for other players, I think we like him a lot (Chelle).”
“We do what he asks us to do and I think everything is working perfectly well. For him, not losing any game is great.”
“He is here to win games, not to lose games. So, we’re doing everything we can also to help him and to make sure that we come out with victories every time we play.”
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