THE Super Eagles delegation to Sunday’s 2026 World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe will arrive in Rwanda – Zimbabwe’s adopted home – in the early hours of tomorrow (Saturday), according to the Nigeria Football Federation.
The delegation of players and officials will travel to Rwanda aboard a chartered aircraft that will depart from the Victor Attah International Airport in Uyo by this midnight, and touch down in Kigali at dawn, before a two-hour road trip to Butare, the city where the match venue (Huye Stadium) is located.
The 20,000-capacity Huye Stadium has an artificial turf but, after a disappointing start to their qualifying campaign, the Super Eagles have promised not to let that stop them from getting the first win.
The three-time African champions disappointed millions of Nigerian football fans yesterday by playing a 1-1 draw with Lesotho at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium.
According to the NFF, Super Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro and his misfiring players are quietly committed to facing the remaining nine matches of the qualification series with a much stronger mentality, with victory in each match the only option.
With Rwanda on the high-altitude plane, it was decided that the Super Eagles would fly into the country, have their official training session and play the match before the unfamiliar climate began to take its toll, the NFF explained.
Zimbabwe’s Warriors, who drew 0-0 with Rwanda’s Amavubi in their matchday 1 fixture on Wednesday, have been training on the artificial turf of the Huye Stadium since arriving in the East country last weekend, and faced the home team on the same turf.
The Super Eagles and the Warriors will clash at the Huye Stadium from 3pm Rwandan time (1pm Nigeria).
A much-needed victory on Sunday will take the Super Eagles to four points and go some way to make up for yesterday’s poor performance and result.
Souleiman Ahmed Djama from Djibouti will be the referee, to be assisted by his compatriots Liban Abdoulrazack Ahmed (assistant referee 1), Rachid Waiss Bouraleh (assistant referee 2) and Mohamed Diraneh Guedi (fourth official).
Yohannes Ghirmai Ghebregziabher from Eritrea will be the referee assessor and Raphael Lyson Humba from Malawi will be the match commissioner.
