William Troost-Ekong reiterated Nigeria’s strong desire to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after helping the Super Eagles secure a crucial 2-1 victory over Lesotho on Friday, Footynaija.com reports.
Troost-Ekong opened Nigeria’s account on the night with a well-taken penalty in the second half before Akor Adams came off the bench to double the lead and secure all three points for the Super Eagles despite Lesotho’s late consolation goal.
Next up for Eric Chelle’s men is a do-or-die clash against Benin, with a convincing win over their West African neighbours required to keep them on course for automatic qualification, in case South Africa slip up against Rwanda.
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“We have a team of guys who have a winning mentality,” Troost-Ekong said in his post-match conference after Nigeria defeated Lesotho.
“We want to be at the World Cup. We’ve said that now for the last nine months, and we still have an opportunity with the game that we’ll be playing in Uyo.
“Of course, playing against Benin, we know that we have to score a certain number of goals. We’ll set the mindset that we want to go in for, but it was always the case that we have to win the game, and we have to do so basically.
“It’s going to be a big test again, but now, I think the team is really ready because we’ve been working on the pressure now for such a long time, and we all know this is the final.
“So, we worked very hard to get there and like the coach said, I’m also very proud of the team, and we keep believing until the very end, and we’ll speak again on Tuesday night.”
Having lost the reverse fixture of this tie to Benin back in June 2024, the Super Eagles will be looking to exact revenge when both teams file out at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium on Tuesday, October 14.
