THE Super Eagles will host Sierra Leone to open their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
The three-time African champions were on Tuesday drawn alongside the Leone Stars, Guinea Bissau and Sao Tome or Mauritius in Group A of the qualifiers.
The qualifiers take off at the end of May/beginning of June with two fixtures. Sierra Leone, who sensationally came back from 4-0 down to hold the Super Eagles 4-4 in Benin City in the qualifiers for the 2021 AFCON, will be guests of Nigeria again in the first week of June.
However, the Super Eagles must await the decision of the CAF Disciplinary Board for which of São Tomé & Príncipe and Mauritius will be the fourth team in Group A.
The Confederation of African Football clarified on Wednesday that Mauritius have a pending protest against São Tomé and Príncipe, who won their preliminary qualifying tie.
Mauritius claim that one São Tomé player had tested positive for Covid-19, while São Tomé & Príncipe continue to dispute this assertion.
Incidentally, the player at the centre of the controversy was the one that scored the goal that made the difference in the match.
After hosting Sierra Leone, the Super Eagles are due to fly to either São Tomé or Port Louis for their Matchday 2 encounter. The window for these two matches is 30 May to 14 June.
In September, with the window for Matchdays 3 and 4 being 19 September and 27 September, the Eagles will face Guinea-Bissau in a double-header.
Matchdays 5 and 6 are set for 20 March and 28 March 2023, and will see the Eagles go away to Freetown before returning home to face São Tomé and Príncipe or Mauritius.
The two top teams in each of the 12 groups at the end of the qualifying campaign will reach the Africa Cup of Nations finals taking place in Cote d’Ivoire next year summer.
