W’Cup qualifiers: Lesotho media celebrate Eagles injury woes

A major Lesotho newspaper, the Lesotho Times, is teasing their country’s national team to take advantage of the Super Eagles growing injury list and cause an upset when both countries meet in Uyo on November 16 in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

In a story titled ‘Relief as key Nigerian players are ruled out of Likuena tie’, the newspaper reported that some key players of the Super Eagles will miss the tie.

“Top Nigerian players that will miss the Likuena clash are AC Milan forward Samuel Chukwueze, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, Nottingham Forest’s influential player Taiwo Awoniyi, Bruno Onyemaechi a defender at Portuguese club, Boavista and Leicester City’s key midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi,” the story read.

“The Super Eagles are battling to overcome these injury concerns as they prepare to face Likuena who are eager to cause an upset at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in the state of Uyo, Akwa Ibom.
“The Super Eagles are ranked number 40 on the FIFA Coca-Cola world ranking while Likuena are ranked number 153.
“The injury concerns are threatening to disrupt Super Eagles’s coach Jose Peseiro’s hunt for a World Cup ticket after the team missed out on the 2022 World Cup.”

The newspaper also detailed the timeline of all the players, including recently invited but uncapped Gift Orban.
Despite having the chance to still invite some of the players who are now recovering, Super Eagles coach, Peseiro, has said he won’t risk the players for the first two matches in the qualifying series while reports are suggesting that he could hand some new players like Bayer Leverkusen’s Nathan Tella a maiden call up to make up for the absentees.

After failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Super Eagles will begin their quest for a place in USA/Mexico/Canada 2026 when they welcome Lesotho in Uyo on Thursday, November 16 before playing Zimbabwe three days later.