WCQ: Super Eagles to know playoff foes in January but home clash could be outside Nigeria

The three-time African champions sealed their spot in the final playoff round for Qatar 2022 after finishing top of their group

Nigeria’s Super Eagles will know their opponent in the final playoff round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in January.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) revealed during their general congress that the draws for the two-legged playoff matches will take place on January 26 2022.

The ten group winners from the second round of qualifying will face each other in a home and away tie to determine Africa’s five representatives in Qatar.

The draw was initially scheduled for December 18, but it has now been shifted for a month. The January FIFA rankings will also be used to determine the seeds as opposed to the November rankings.

Nigeria are one of the ten group winners and should be among the top seeds as they are currently ranked fifth on the continent.

The change of date also means teams will get to know their opponents when the Africa Cup of Nations is in progress. The biennial competition takes place in Cameroon from January 9 to February 6 next year.

Meanwhile, the Super Eagles could play their home clash away from home after CAF ruled that VAR will be used for all the games.

The African football governing body added that any country that does not have VAR facilities installed would be forced to play its home game at an away ground that has the facility.

Gernot Rohr’s men played all of their home games this year at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, but the stadium does not have VAR facilities.

It remains to be seen the other options the three-time African champions have, but a return to the Godswill Akpabio Stadium is possible.