The Super Eagles were on Friday handed a nail- biting draw for the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying group as Nigeria will compete with Zambia , Algeria and bitter rivals, Cameroon .
Only one of these teams in Group B will qualify for the World Cup after facing each other twice at home and away.
The Algerian team, has among other stars Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City who emerged the best player in the English Premier League last season.
The tough draw no doubt was a result of Nigeria ’ s current football ranking which made the Eagles were placed in Pot 2 while seeded teams were in Pot 1 In this group the Eagles are third in terms of ranking .
Algeria are the number one on the continent and they are 32nd in world rankings while Cameroon are 9th in Africa and 58th in the world .
Zambia place 19 in Africa and 79 in the world . This is enough indication of how very tough the group is for Nigeria which currently have no substantive coach .
Group A of the qualifiers has DR Congo , Libya , Guinea, Tunisia, while Gabon , Morocco , Cote d ’ Ivoire and Mali are to compete in Group C .
Group D comprises Burkina Faso, South Africa , Cape Verde and Group E has Uganda, Congo , Egypt Ghana.
A minute silence was observed for late former Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, at the draw ceremony in Cairo .
“ It is a tough draw, but then I have always said that you have to beat the best to get to the World Cup .
Now we have the draw , we know how to prepare .
The preparation has to start right now and we must make good use of every single day leading to the kick – off of the series , ” NFF president Amaju Pinnick said .
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