Fresh from winning the four-nation Unity Cup tournament in London,
Nigeria’s Super Eagles will seek to maintain their unbeaten run in all
competitions since the beginning of this year, when they take on the
Sbornaya (The Boys) of Russia at the 78,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Friday night.
It is the first official meeting for both countries at senior level, and though Russia have not played competitively since February 2022, they have been busy playing friendly games, the last one being a 5-0 routing
of Zambia’s Chipolopolo at the VTB Arena in Moscow on 25th March. The win took their winning streak to eight games.
Nigeria defeated Rwanda 2-0 in Kigali in a FIFA World Cup qualifying
match on 21st March, were held to a 1-1 draw at home four days later by Zimbabwe in the same series, and then defeated Ghana 2-1 on 28th May before overpowering Jamaica on penalties after a 2-2 draw on 31st May to
win the Unity Cup tournament in London.
While still in the form of that single and mammoth USSR, the Soviet Union hosted the FIFA World Youth Championship (now FIFA U20 World Cup)
in 1985. The host nation defeated Nigeria 2-1 in a group phase match in
Minsk, but when both teams clashed in the tournament’s third-place
match, Nigeria triumphed 3-1 after a penalty shootout following 0-0 in
regulation and extra time in Moscow.
On Friday (today), Franco-Malian Eric Chelle will be put out a squad that will be determined to earn a critical win for Nigeria in order to sustain
the winning mentality built from the Unity Cup tournament, and also set
their eyes confidently on an even more critical couple of 2026 FIFA
World Cup qualifying matches coming up in September.
The Super Eagles, lying fourth in their group, will host Rwanda’s
Amavubi in the first week of September, and fly out to Johannesburg four
days later, to tackle group leaders Bafana Bafana of South Africa in what could be a flaming war.
Injuries and withdrawals have combined to tweak Chelle’s ensemble for
this encounter, but the spine of the squad is largely intact, with only
the fore missing telling performers, such as reigning African Player of
the Year Ademola Lookman, the peerless Victor Osimhen and AC Milan of Italy’s Samuel Chukwueze – who was in imperious form in London.
Goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has another opportunity to reign between the
sticks, with Igoh Ogbu and Benjamin Fredericks (from the Unity Cup in
London) tugging for the rearguard shirts with captain William Ekong,
Bright Osayi-Samuel, Bruno Onyemaechi, and Semi Ajayi.
A rich midfield cast includes Frank Onyeka, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Raphael
Onyedika, Christantus Uche, Papa Daniel, and Saviour Isaac.
Much will be expected of Simon Moses and Tolu Arokodare in the attack,
as Krasnodar FC’s former junior international Olakunle Olusegun hopes
fervently for his first senior cap.
The iconic Luzhniki Stadium hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final, in
which France defeated Croatia 4-2. During the competition, Russia
defeated Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the group phase, and also eliminated Spain
4-3 after penalty shootout in the Round of 16, at the same Luzhniki
Stadium.
Friday’s encounter will kick off at 8pm Russia time (6pm Nigeria).
