Super Eagles To Start Qatar 2022 World Cup Qualifiers In May 2021

Published: November 03, 2020

Earlier this year it was announced by the international governing body of soccer, FIFA, that the qualifying matches for the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar would be delayed until next year.

In addition to this, FIFA confirmed that Nigeria’s Super Eagles will begin the second round of the World Cup qualifiers on May 31st, 2021.

The second round of the Qatar World Cup Qualifiers was initially slated for October this year, but it has now been confirmed by FIFA that the Qualifiers will be postponed until may next year due to the global football calendar being disrupted by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

World Cup 2022 Qualifiers

The World Cup may not be until 2022 but the Super Eagles should be confident about their chances of qualifying. Nigeria's African qualifier for Qatar 2022 is just a few months away, with the draw taking place in Egypt earlier this year.

The road to Qatar begins with a home and away game against South Africa in Abu Dhabi in May 2021.

The third and final round of the World Cup qualifiers is expected to take place in November 2021.

Only ten group winners advance to the final round, where a two-on-two tie will decide the five African World Cup representatives.

Only on one occasion have Nigeria failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2006 since they first debuted in the tournament all the way back in 1994. Rohr is confident that they can make it this time as well.

Nigeria were ranked at number 32 in the latest Fifa World rankings for the month of October, and are among the top favourites in their group across numerous betting sites to qualify for the World Cup in 2022.

If you want to follow any of the upcoming qualifying matchups, then you should consider consulting a sportsbook to compare live odds for upcoming matches in the 2022 World Cup tournament.

‘We can make it’ – Rohr confident Nigeria will be at Qatar 2022

Before the appointment of Gernot Rohr as manager of the Eagles in 2016, the team were at a low point, after failing to qualify for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations two years in a row in both 2015 and 2017.

Understandably, fans were skeptical of their ability to qualify for the 2018 Russia World Cup, especially considering they were drawn in a tough group comprising Zambia, Cameroon and Algeria.

In spite of these difficulties, the appointment of Rohr to head coach breathed new life into the squad.

The German manager’s recruitment of talented young players such as Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi and Kelechi Iheanacho raised the team to new heights, allowing them to reach the 2018 World Cup undefeated, where they happened to miss out on the knockout stage after a narrow defeat at the hands of Argentina in their final group match.

Nigeria have been drawn in group C alongside Liberia, Cape Verde, Central African Republic in round two of the African Qualifiers.

Rohr has faith in his ability to lead the team to Qatar 2022, but this confidence must be met with a tinge of caution.

The German coach has taken a pragmatic approach and voiced his respect for the opposition in this statement he made to FIFA representatives:

“The group is tough, but we believe in our capabilities. We qualified from the group of death for Russia 2018, and we’re confident we can make it this time as well”.

The German coach confirmed in may that he would renew his managerial contract with the west Africa team, agreeing to a two and half year extension with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

The German tactician will remain as the Super Eagles’ manager until the end of the 2022 World Cup, and is hopeful that he can take Nigeria beyond the round of 16.

Make sure to check out other posts on All Nigeria Soccer for all the latest news on the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and other soccer news from Africa with our Africa Cup of Nations coverage.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel