Former Nigeria international Dauda Lawal believes the Super Eagles should stop celebrating South Africa’s sanction and instead focus on winning their last two games in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Footynaija.com reports.
Nigeria was thrown a lifeline after FIFA stripped South Africa of three points from their win over Lesotho, ruling that Bafana Bafana had fielded an ineligible player.
The decision tightened up Group C and gave the Super Eagles fresh hope with two matches still to play. But Lawal feels the real test is not about rulings off the pitch but about how Nigeria respond on it.
Related Post
According to a report by The Nation, Lawal, who featured for Nigeria at youth and senior levels before taking his career overseas to Spain, Belgium, and South Africa stressed that only victories in the remaining fixtures will truly count if the Eagles want to reach the World Cup.
“I don’t get excited about the sanction of South Africa because one thing is to get three points taken away from South Africa. Another thing is for us to be able to win our remaining games,” Lawal said.
“The bottom line is: can we win the last two games? That’s the question and this is the crucial part of it. I’m not so excited about removing South Africa’s points. What I am looking forward to is how we can prepare ourselves in a manner that we can win the next two games.”
For him, FIFA’s ruling was no shock. The former winger pointed out that the world body has always taken a strict stance on eligibility and was never going to bend its regulations.
“They won’t bend their rules at that level. They will not like to undermine their own regulations. So for sure when South Africa made that mistake, I knew they were going to forfeit the three points and three goals,” he added.
Nigeria are still a few points behind the leaders, but matches against Lesotho and Benin remain in their hands.
